MAMMALS or ITORTHEEN CANADA 175 



80 yards, and then pick off the restless ones first, which so 

 greatly bewilders the remainder that they are easily secured. 

 He was himself one of three who thus shot down a herd of 

 ten in three or four minutes. ISTo wonder, therefore, that he 

 ardently longed for a similar experience at Port Kennedy, 

 as it would have furnished the crew of his vessel with fresh 

 meat every day for three months, but unfortunately not an 

 animal could be seen. In the vicinity of Tort Conger, Lady 

 Franklin Bay, Grinnell Land, in latitude 81° 44' north and 

 longitude 64° 45' west, General G-reely, U. S. Army, com- 

 mander of the American expedition, secured 103 examples 

 of the musk ox. He gives latitude 83° 3' north as the highest 

 point where traces of this animal were observed by Lieuten- 

 ant (Captain) Lockwood. 



On© or two writers have said that lichens form an 

 important item in the diet of the musk ox, but Greely is 

 positive (and I agree with him) that none of his party ever 

 observed them eating any, while the stomachs of a large 

 number examined by him did not contain a trac6 thereof. 

 The contents clearly demonstrated that they fed on dwarf 

 willow, saxifrages, and grasses. They use their hoofs in 

 digging for these when the ground is covered with snow. 

 There must, however^ be fairly good pasturage in certain 

 fertile spots amid the generally desolate and sterile lands 

 situated in high latitudes, similar to that described by 

 Doctor Armstrong as occurring on Baring Island, or it 

 would be utterly impossible for reindeer and musk oxen to 

 subsist there, as many do, all the year round. Of course, no 

 such food scarcity exists on continental America, even in 

 the so-caUed " Barren Grounds." Like all wild animals, 

 the musk ox in winter quenches its thirst by eating shciw. 



As spring advanced, the musk oxen of the Anderson 

 country migrated northward.. The females are said to pro- 

 duce one, and sometimes two, at a birth. The Company's 

 posts at which skins are usually traded are Fort McPherson 



12 



