FOREST AND STREAM 
509 
The 
Romance 
of the Newfoundland 
Caribou 
Probable Extent of Existing Herd, and Their Location 
T HE caribou herds of Newfoundland have 
been the subject of many laudatory articles 
within the last few years in American 
periodicals. Mighty hunters have described in 
burning words in the magazines their thrilling 
adventures in ambushing, stalking and eventually 
capturing “the head of heads” of the “monarch of 
the glen.” 
Such famous hunters, naturalists and artists 
as F. C. Selous, J. G. Millias and Hesketh 
Pritchard have stalked, shot, studied and painted 
them, and given the results of their effort and 
observation to the world, in ambitious works that 
are a decided acquisition to the lore of the sports¬ 
man, as well as a valuable addition to the very 
best literature of the great outdoors. 
But it remained for A. Radcliffe Dugmore to 
put the crowning touch to the useful and beauti¬ 
fully illustrated books dealing with big game in 
Newfoundland that have lately been published. 
On the principle that the best way to know a 
man is to live with him, Mr. Dugmore virtually 
took up his residence with the Newfoundland 
caribou for nine consecutive seasons, and the 
knowledge that he gleaned from the closest com¬ 
panionship, under all conditions he has given to 
the world under the title of “The Romance of the 
Newfoundland Caribou.” 
For the sportsman, naturalist or artist, this 
volume will supply the most reliable data to 
satisfy his various needs, while to that larger class 
who hunt with neither gun nor camera, but who 
enjoy a good book with rare and beautiful illus¬ 
trations of wild life under the most favorable 
conditions, Mr. Dugmore’s book makes an irre¬ 
sistible appeal. 
The “romance” of the Newfoundland caribou 
is no misnomer, because all the romance that 
affects these untrammeled creatures of the wilds 
from their birth, as small fawns, their mating and 
through the various stages of their careers, till 
they become doughty warriors of the glen, en¬ 
gaged in a combat to the death for the favor of 
some soft-eyed and elusive doe, is faithfully por¬ 
trayed here, both by pen and camera, and the pic¬ 
tures are so charming that after reading one is 
so delig'hted with the descriptions of these grace¬ 
ful animals in their natural state, undisturbed by 
fear of man, that one is almost purged of the lust 
of blood, and the desire to kill feels almost as a 
reproach. 
Mr. Dugmore’s method of studying them with¬ 
out frightening them, and “shooting” with his 
camera and not with a rifle, will commend itself 
each year more and more to lovers of nature, till 
at last we hope the day will soon dawn when 
the indiscriminate slaughter of these harmless 
and beautiful, creatures will be regarded as a 
crime in the eyes of all civilized men. 
Mr. Dugmore treats exhaustively of the life 
and general habits of the caribou, its mating, au¬ 
tumn and spring migrations, from the sports¬ 
man’s point of view, as a species, the best way to 
hunt with either rifle or camera, the game laws, 
camping, and so forth, and completely covers all 
By W. J. Carroll. 
the grounds upon which any kind of inquirer 
would likely require information. 
The author’s point of view is disclosed in this 
sentence: “I shall begin by saying that the New¬ 
foundland stag, at its best, is perhaps the hand¬ 
somest of all the caribou, even though he is not 
the largest and does not carry the longest horns. 
Not only is he a thoroughly handsome creature, 
but his life is unusually full of interest to be 
fully appreciated only by those who have had the 
good fortune to spend many months in the wilds 
of his island home, seeing him and his soft-eyed 
does under many and varied conditions.” 
Discussing the number of caribou on the island 
and the chances for the hunter or photographer, 
he asserts that to his own knowledge they exist 
in considerable numbers: “How many it would 
be difficult to say. Perhaps one hundred and fifty 
thousand altogether would be a fairly safe esti¬ 
mate.” 
He then quotes perhaps the best three authori¬ 
ties on the subject, to show that though his esti¬ 
mate is only a matter of conjecture, he cannot 
be far wrong: “J. G. Millias thinks there are 
more than this number. In his delightful book, 
‘Newfoundland and Its Untrodden Ways,’ he 
writes: ‘It is very difficult to figure out the num¬ 
ber of caribou in Newfoundland, and all estimates 
must be mere guesses.’ Mr. Moulton, of Burgeo, 
judging by the numbers wintering in the barrens 
north of that place and White Bear Bay, puts it 
at two hundred and fifty thousand, and thinks 
that they are increasing at the rate of ten thou¬ 
sand annually. Mr. Howley (director of the 
Geological Survey), on the other hand, places the 
figures at a hundred thousand, and I think that 
double the number is a fair estimate. In spite 
of the enormous slaughter which takes place an¬ 
nually, and which is every year greatly on the 
increase, Newfoundland will keep the deer for 
many centuries to come, if all shooters are li¬ 
censed, and the number of deer shot by each per¬ 
son does not exceed three. Thus putting the 
death rate at the highest estimate of three ani¬ 
mals each to four thousand shooters, twelve thou¬ 
sand would be killed out of two hundred thou¬ 
sand, that is a depreciation of six per cent. Now 
this is a much smaller rate of killing than takes 
place among the stags of Scotland and they are 
undoubtedly on the increase.” 
Further he says: “To those who, when out 
hunting, are accustomed to seeing two or three 
wild animals in a day, and believe themselves 
fortunate indeed if they see half a dozen, the ex¬ 
traordinary number of caribou to be found in a 
single day’s walking or canoeing in Newfound¬ 
land must be a great and very delightful sur¬ 
prise. During the autumn migration it is not 
unusual to see four or five hundred in a day, and 
earlier in the season, when the animals are fol¬ 
lowing their regular habit of slow wandering 
from barren to barren, or from hill to hill, one 
may easily see several dozen singly or in small 
herds; while if we visit the island, when the 
snow lies deep and venture into the animals’ win¬ 
ter quarters, I am told that irregular herds num¬ 
bering thousands of head may be found. It must 
be a wonderful sight; one to remember and one 
which I hope some day to have a chance of see¬ 
ing.” 
The number killed each year by hunters and 
residents is almost as difficult to determine as 
that of the total on the island. The official re¬ 
turns for 1912 showed that hunters killed less 
than two thousand, and I believe the returns for 
1913 will not exceed that number. The difficulty 
comes when we try to compute those killed by the 
“poor settler,” the lumberman and the trapper. 
Certainly this class kills a great many each year, 
but it is the opinion of many qualified to speak 
that the alleged number killed is greatly exag¬ 
gerated and that the deer are increasing rapidly. 
Anyhow, the lowest estimates of existing herds 
give good ground for the hope that, barring some 
extraordinary catastrophe, with the present laws 
rigidly enforced, they are sufficient to give good 
sport to hundreds of hunters for many years to 
come. 
In addition to the regular reserve now at How- 
ley station, your correspondent has given notice 
that at a future meeting of the game commission 
he will move that the whole peninsula of Avalon 
on the southeast coast be set aside as a reserva¬ 
tion for caribou, moose, beaver and other game 
to be imported, and such is the state of public 
opinion that there will probably be no opposition 
to the proposal. 
Mr. Dugmore illustrates his book with the most 
beautiful photos of caribou that we have yet 
seen. He caught them swimming, walking, run¬ 
ning, playing, and at least one picture of a titanic 
battle between two stags. In their migration he 
secured many excellent pictures of fairly large 
herds, and secured some of them within a dis¬ 
tance of a few feet. The artistic and rare pic¬ 
tures with which the book abounds will appeal to 
a very much larger class of readers than those 
who possess one or more rifles in their armory. 
The Noon Day Rest. 
(Continued on page 530.) 
