456 WILD ANIMALS. 



of it wliicli they received from this source, -wrote back to their 

 friends in Europe that the fabled unicorn had been found. 



There are two varieties of this species of the rangifer — the 

 ■woodland caribou and the barren ground caribou, the latter being 

 much smaller animals in every way. Their range is along the shores 

 of the Arctic Ocean and of Hudson's Bay, above the northern 

 limit of the forests. They are also to be found in Grreenland. 



Owing to the stupid and fearless character of these deer in 

 some districts, the sport of caribou-hunting is not remarkably 

 exciting. One hunter states : " I have repeatedly known deer which 

 I had failed in approaching unseen come up boldly of their own 

 accord until they were within easy shot of me, although I was not 

 only in full view but to windward of them. Neither does the report 

 of a rifle much alarm them ; but that is more easily understood, 

 as they are no doubt accustomed to hear the cracking of the 

 glaciers, and the noises caused by the splitting of rocks by 

 the frost in winter. On one occasion my companion found a 

 troop of ^five deer, and, obtaining a concealed position whence 

 they were within range of his rifle, knocked over four of them 

 by a bullet from each of his four barrels ; the survivor then 

 stood sniffing his dead companions until Kennedy had time to 

 reload and consummate this unparalleled sporting feat by polish- 

 ing him off likewise." And again he writes : " In the first 

 valley we came to we espied some small troops of deer feeding 

 within half a mile of the shore. "We landed, and I killed nine of 

 them without much trouble ; I might easily have shot as many more, 

 but I got disgusted with such a burlesque upon sport, and left 

 them alone." This, however, was a very exceptional experience. 



The lowing of the caribou is a short, hoarse bellow, which is 

 more like the bark of a dog than the voice of an animal of the 

 deer tribe. 



The caribou does not appear to have ever been domesticated, 

 although attempts have frequently been made to utilize it in 

 the same way as the European reindeer, but through some cause 

 or another these experiments have not been crowned with success, 

 for although carefully reared and trained by man from their very 

 birth they become wild and untractable on attaining maturity. 



