ICG ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



wood buffalo, is much larger than that of the common 

 animal, the hair is very short, mane or hair about the 

 neck, short and soft, and altogether destitute of curl, 

 which is the common feature in the hair or wool of the 

 prairie animal. Two skins of the so-called wood buffalo, 

 which I saw at Selkirk Settlement, bore a very close re- 

 semblance to the skin of the Lithuanian bison, judging 

 from the specimens of that species which I have since had 

 an opportunity of seeing in the British Museum. 



The wood buffalo is stated to be very scarce, and only 

 found north of the Saskatchewan, and on the flanks of the 

 Eocky Mountains. It never ventures into the open plains ; 

 the prairie buffalo, on the contrary, generally avoids 

 the woods in summer and keeps to the open country ; 

 but in winter they are frequently found in the woods of 

 the Little Souris, the Saskatchewan, the Touchwood Hills, 

 and the aspen groves on the Qu'appelle. There is no 

 doubt that formerly the prairie buffalo ranged through 

 open woods almost as much as he now- does through the 

 prairies. 



Great Slave Lake is the northern limit of the buffalo, 

 and the country between that large body of water and 

 the Saskatchewan is partially wooded. The buffalo are 

 now found in considerable numbers on the east flank of 

 the Eocky Mountains. The former limits of the wan- 

 derings of these animals are carefully recorded in the 

 narrative of Major Long's Expedition to the sources of 

 the St. Peter's Eiver. It appears that the buffalo was 

 formerly found throughout the whole territory of the 

 United States, with the exception of that part which lies 

 east of Hudson's Eiver and Lake Champlain, and of narrow 

 strips of coast on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. 

 These were swampy, and had probably low thick woods. 

 That it did not exist on the Atlantic coast is rendered 



