22 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 
with considerable rapidity. You have seen snow-shoes or 
rackets ? 
C. — Richardson showed me a pair : he is an experienced 
hunter^ and is provided with all such things. They are 
made of a piece of white-ash^ or other tough wood^ bent and 
secured in an oval form^ and a network of interlaced thongs 
of deer-skin is stretched across^ on which the foot rests^ and 
two straps of leather fasten it on. I tried them on, but 
I could -not walk with them, the rims struck my ankles at 
every step. 
jp. — Like most other things, they require practice to be 
of much service. The deer seem to be aware of their inferi- 
ority on these occasions, for I have been told that sometimes 
they will not attempt to run, nor make the slightest effort 
to escape, until the hunters come up, and pass the knife 
across their throats. 
C. — Is not our common deer the Cervus Virginianus of 
naturalists ? 
F. — Yes : we have only the Virginian deer and the 
Moose f C> AlcesJ , that I am aware of ; though the Caribou, 
or Reindeer ( C. Tarandus J, is, I believe, found north of 
the St. Lawrence. This last is common in Newfoundland. 
The Moose is the Elk of Europe ; but the Elk " of the 
Americans is a much smaller species, though still a very fine 
animal ; it is the Wapiti ( C. Wapiti), which is confined to 
the Western States. There is a remarkable peculiarity 
which is said to belong to that curious animal, the Prong- 
horned Antelope of the Rocky Mountains ( Antilope Furci- 
ferj, which I have observed in our common deer. ( C, Virg,) 
It is the singular form and texture of the hair. In winter 
the hair is very tubular, like a bird's quill, and so inelastic 
as to crumple on the slightest pressure ; when bent, it crushes 
into a sharp angle, in which shape it remains : it is ex- 
