304 THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES 



We did not see any of these, but we did see the post- 

 graduate evidences of their diet, and were somewhat 

 surprised to learn that it included much fruit, especi- 

 ally of the uva-ursi. We also saw proof that they 

 had eaten part of a Moose; probably they had killed it. 



Coyote abounded now, and these we saw from time 

 to time. Once I tramped up within thirty feet of a 



Bear-berry, or Uva-ursi 



big fellow who was pursuing some zoological studies 

 behind a log. But again the incontrovertible — ^post- 

 mortem — evidence of their food habits was a surprise — 

 the bulk of their sustenance now was berries, in one case 

 this was mixed with the tail hairs — but no body hairs 

 — of a Chipmunk. I suppose that Chipmunk escaped 

 minus his tail. There was much evidence that all 

 those creatures that can eat fruit were in good condi- 

 tion, but that flesh in its most accessible form — rab- 

 bits — was unknown, and even next best thing — ^the 

 mice — were too scarce to count; this weighed with 

 especial force on the LjTixes; they alone seemed unable 

 to eke out with fruit. The few we saw were starving 

 and at our camp of the 28th we found the wretched 

 body of one that was dead of hunger. 



