19 
to tip of tail vertebrae, 4-3 feet; tail, 1-4 feet; hind foot, from hock to end 
of hoof, 2 feet; depth of chest, 2-56 feet; height at shoulder, 4-8 feet. 
After the buffalo had been prepared and packed up, Sousa and the writer 
made a long detour to west, visiting several small lakes. No recent buffalo 
signs were observed, but there were several fresh evidences of beaver 
workings, and young poplars cut down. The beaver are said to be fast 
increasing in this area and are spreading out to lakes from which they have 
been absent for several years. 
September 24, Warden Milne started back to Fort Smith with the 
wagon and the remainder of the gear and specimens; the others started 
for Salt plains, where the buffalo appeared to be heading. At Salt river, 
above the salt springs, where the water was still fresh, a herd of about a 
dozen buffalo was seen, on small prairie near the edge of low brush. These 
were stalked and being assured that one was an undoubted large old bull, 
he was shot. It was a magnificent specimen, at least nine years old, as 
shown by the horns, and perhaps older. It measured: length from nose 
to tip of tail vertebrse, 11*21 feet; tail, 1-45 feet; hind foot, from hock 
to tip of hoof, 2-23 feet; depth of chest, 3-6 feet; height at shoulder, 5-65 
feet; width of fore feet, 4-5 to 5 inches. The animal was so heavy that 
four men had difficulty in turning him over. Estimated weight, about 
2,000 pounds, but the animal was rather lean. Live weights of buffalo 
are quite variable, and the paunch of this animal was full and weighed 
about 400 pounds. A party during the next afternoon succeeded in killing 
a large bull about 5 miles away, so that the quota was complete. This 
last buffalo measured a trifle larger than the former one, externally, al- 
though the long leg bones were identical in length. Length, from nose to tip 
of tail vertebrse, 12-2 feet; tail, 1-5 feet; hind foot, from hock to tip of 
hoof, 2-12 feet; depth of chest, 3-88 feet; height at shoulder, 5-7 feet; 
width of fore foot, 4-2 inches; estimated weight about 2,000 pounds. 
Nine large buffalo crossed the end of the prairie in the morning and an 
unsuccessful attempt was made to photograph them. 
The party returned to Fitzgerald about noon on the 30th, with 
pack-train, packed the specimens, and left Fitzgerald on the next boat, 
October 6. They arrived at Edmonton on October 14. The expedition 
accomplished the main purpose of the trip, of obtaining wood buffalo, 
and also secured a number of other specimens, including black bear, 
beaver, northwestern muskrat, Mackenzie bog-lemming, brown bat, and 
other small species, as well as a few birds. By co-operation with Dr. 
Hadwen, an expert parasitologist and animal pathologist, investigations 
were made which may prove of value, as he was enabled to make critical 
examinations of internal organs and take blood-slides of specimens cap- 
tured for museum purposes. There is a great deal to be learned in regard 
to the inter-relations among the different species of mammals, and the 
most lowly species of vole or shrew may be host to various internal and 
external parasites, or bear trypanosomes in its blood that may work 
havoc on themselves as well as on other species that eat them raw or feed 
on the same range. Dr. Hadwen later described a new form of tape- 
worm from cysts found in liver of a muskrat taken near head of Salt river. 
Further investigations along these lines may solve some of the problems 
of the periodicity of certain species, or their fluctuations in numbers from 
year to year, or in cycles. The northern varying hare or snowshoe rabbit 
in the north is an example. 
