172 
FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. 
J 
THE REIN-DEER — VULGO, CARIBOO. 
CERVUS TARANDUS .* L. 
Cervus Tarandus ; Lin. Syst. p. 93. Cariboo of the old French 
writers. Cervus Tarandus; Harlan's Fauna Americana , p. 
232 ; Godman's Am. Nat. Hist., vol. ii., p. 283 ; Richardson 
F. B. A., vol. i., p. 238; Emmons , Mass. Reports , 1840, p. 78. 
“ Characteristics. —Varying in color from deep brown to gray¬ 
ish-white. About the size of the common Deer. 
“ Description. —Body robust, and low on the legs; snout thin, 
with oblique nostrils; ears large ; horns usually slender, very 
variable in form,—they generally consist of brow antlers, which 
are palmate and digitate, the main stem directed backward, then 
curving forward, with simple or palmated antlers, or else ter¬ 
minating in a broad, palmated expansion, which is often fur¬ 
nished with points; legs robust; hoofs rounded, consisting of 
a single plate folded on itself very broad, with a strong fringe 
of hairs around it; fur close and compact, but composed of 
two portions, one woolly, the other longer, straight, and brittle. 
“ Color. —Varying with age and season. Young, brownish 
above, with a tinge of reddish beneath. Adults in the sum¬ 
mer, a smooth coat of grayish-brown, becoming rougher and 
whiter in winter; beneath, the throat, belly, and insides, white 
at all seasons. 
“ It is with much hesitation that I include this animal in the 
Fauna of our State; but the representations of hunters lead me 
to suspect, that when the yet unexplored parts of the State have 
been more thoroughly examined, its existence may be disclosed. 
Pennant, in his time, asserted that the Rein-deer was not found 
farther South than the most northern part of Canada. Charle¬ 
voix, however, saw one killed at Quebec. The specimen in the 
cabinet of the Medical College at Albany, came from Nova 
Scotia; and Harlan asserts that it does not pass the State of 
Maine into the United States, implying its existence there. 
