October, 1902.] MAMMALS OP KEEWATIN. 43 



wide, consisting of hairs 6 inches in length; an indistinct stripe of 

 ashy extending from this white area forward to chin; feet around edge 

 of hoof white; nose and edges of lips whitish; ears mainly ashy. 



The winter skins seen were more or less suffused with white or hoary, 

 which in some cases was the predominating color. 



Alces americanus Jardine. Eastern Moose. 



This species occurs in suitable places throughout the region traversed 

 from Lake Winnipeg nearly to Hudson Bay. While ascending the 

 Echimamish, which is a noted locality for moose, we frequently saw 

 places where the animals had crossed the stream, and the bordering 

 swamps were intersected by a network of their tracks. Many of the 

 tracks in the bed of the stream were so recent that the mud had not 

 yet settled; but no animals were seen, though we were constantly on 

 the lookout for them. A young one was killed by a party of Indians 

 at the outlet of the Echimamish a few days before we ascended the 

 river, and the cranium of a female, probably killed during the pre- 

 ceding winter, was found at the middle dam. The extensive swamps 

 below Robinson Portage are also much frequented by the animals, one 

 of which was trailed for some distance by my Indian guides. 



At Oxford House, 60 or 70 miles beyond Robinson Portage, the 

 moose was formerly almost unknown, according to information 

 received independently from several officers of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company, but is extending its range toward Hudson Bay and is now 

 frequently killed near that post. On Steel River, as we were ascend- 

 ing it September 1, we saw a fresh track at the mouth of a small 

 stream a few miles below Fox River, and at York Factory I was 

 shown a skin which had been brought from Shamattawa River, where 

 the York Factory Indians now go regularly to hunt moose. 



Farther inland the moose ranges to the northwest. I saw a head at 

 Norway House from the vicinity of Split Lake, and J. B. Tyrrell met 

 with moose on Stone River about 400 miles west of Fort Churchill.'' 



Ovibos moschatus (Zimm.). Musk-Ox. 



The musk-ox was first described from the region between Seal and 

 Churchill rivers and formerly ranged in winter more or less regularly 

 to about that latitude; Hearne saw its tracks within a few miles of 

 Fort Churchill, and on his first journey toward the northwest met 

 with it within a hundred miles of that place.* Edward Sabine 

 recorded musk-oxen from Melville Island, where they arrived in May 

 from the southward. They crossed on the frozen sea, and recrossed 

 it on leaving in September.'' Ross recorded them from Felix Harbor,, 



a Ann. Kept. Can. Geol. Surv., 1896, IX (new ser.), 16oF (1897). 

 b Journey * * * to the Northern Ocean, p. 135, 1795. 

 "Suppl. to Appendix to Parry's First Voyage, p. clxxxix, 1825. 



