174 THEOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIN 



climb over rocks and rough surfaces with great ease." He 

 further adds that " they are very irascible when wounded, 

 and will sometimes attack a hunter and seriously endanger 

 his life." Doctor Armstrong has also recorded an interest- 

 ing experience in Prince of Wales Strait in which the dam 

 and sire of a small herd brought to bay bravely stood in front 

 protecting the others in the rear, an action which surely 

 afforded strong proof of their affectionate instinct. On this 

 occasion three males, the mother, and a young female calf 

 were all shot. Sir Leopold McClintock, who had been en- 

 gaged in several Franklin Search expeditions, writes : 



The white cow (the albino observed on Melville Island) was 

 accompanied by a black calf. The musk ox clambers up the steepest 

 rocks like a goat, and, when running, his long black hair heaves 

 up and down, streaming in the breeze, and gives him a peculiarly- 

 savage appearance. It is so long that he occasionally treads thereon, 

 and one finds hairs almost two feet in length stamped into the snow. 

 There is an undergrowth of very thick wool, so soft and silky that 

 the warmest gloves have been made of it. The musk ox is not 

 absolutely deficient of a tail, but it never exceeds 1% inches in 

 length. They do not seem to cross from one island to another, aS 

 the reindeer do, but usually roam about in small herds. Unaccus- 

 tomed to man, they seldom deigned to notice us until we came 

 tolerably near; then they would generally close together in an 

 attitude of defense. While facing you their massive horns so 

 effectually shield every vital part that it is useless to fire, and 

 therefore a single sportsman must wait until their patience is 

 exhausted and they alter their position; but it is desirable to get 

 behind a block of glassy ice, a rock, or some rough ground, where 

 they cannot charge straight at you, which we have known them 

 to do before as well as after being fired at. I once came across a 

 solitary old bull which instantly faced me, spent a few seconds 

 rubbing his horns against his fore legs (a sure sign that mischief 

 is brewing), and rushed on me at full speed; but I had taken the 

 precaution so to approach him that I was able to shoot him when 

 he halted on the brink of the ravine down which I had retreated. 



McClintock further says that three or four sportsmen 

 may station themselves about a herd at a distance of 70 or 



