172 
FOREST AND STREAM 
moss and lichens. It is barren only in the sense 
that it is destitute of trees; hence the name De- 
chin-u-le (no trees), which is the Indian name 
for it.” 
This region is the home of the caribou, musk 
oxen, moose and other game animals, and is a 
paradise for the fisherman. In it are to be found 
the great migratory herds of caribou, which are 
counted by the hundreds of thousands. Musk ox 
are plentiful, 'but sad to relate, Indians are mak¬ 
ing inroads upon them, and it will be the duty of 
the Canadian government sooner or later to pro¬ 
tect these noble animals from extinction. The 
summer ciimate is glorious, and as Forest and 
Stream readers certainly will be interested in a 
description of the hunting territory of to-mor¬ 
row, if not to-day, I append descriptions of game 
conditions by some of the men who have pene¬ 
trated the region. I could fill an entire volume of 
your paper with the same sort of matter. 
A Musk. Ox Hunt. 
Here is something about musk ox hunting by 
J. W. Tyrrell and his party: 
Whilst sailing northward into Sifton lake we 
encountered a gale which drove us ashore at the 
the northern sky a glow of lurid light, making the 
scene a most enchanting picture, such as can only 
be seen within the shadow of the Arctic. For 
three miles our light canoe glided over the glassy 
surface of the lake in perfect silence, excepting 
for the faint ripple of the water against the 
sides, until when near the shore, there suddenly 
appeared over the adjoining ridge, the huge black 
forms of nine musk oxen. 
Even our breathing was now almost stifled 
until we were able to gain the shore and con¬ 
ceal ourselves from view behind the steep bank 
of the lake. 
After hauling out the canoe upon a sand beach 
and carefully examining our rifles, we made 
ascent of the bank. There we lay for some 
minutes in silent admiration within sixty yards 
of the foremost brute, in order to regain breath 
and steady our nerves, which being accomplished, 
and the two largest bulls selected, at a given 
word, we both fired. 
They were all taken completely by surprise and 
at once stricken with panic, and yet they had not 
yet located their source of danger, and knew not 
which way to flee. The succeeding ten minutes 
river,, one of the most interesting features met 
with was the occurrence of numerous bands of 
musk oxen feeding upon the luxuriant grass or 
sleeping on the river bank. Attempts were made 
to obtain photographs of some of these noble 
brutes, but such were not very successful, for 
two reasons, first, because of the weariness of the 
animals, and second, because of the weariness of 
the photographers. 
It was observed that when bands of cows with 
their young were met with, they were usually 
very timid and fled at first approach of danger, 
but in the case of straggling bulls which were 
frequently seen, they were much more fearless 
and allowed us to approach as closely as prudence 
and their defiant attitudes would permit. On one 
occasion, when Mr. Fairchild climbed the river 
bank in order to photograph a fine specimen, he 
had no sooner snapped his camera, and turned 
his back, than the brute charged an'd followed him 
to the bank. He was at once covered by our 
rifles, but as Fairchild stepped safely into his 
canoe no shots were fired. Indeed, day after 
day we passed numbers of musk oxen, without 
molesting them in any way other than trying to 
Barren Ground Caribou, on Shore of Carey Lake. (This Herd is Estimated to Contain 300,000 Head.) Photo by J. W. Tyrrell 
focus of the four arms. Thus finding a little 
leisure time thrust upon us, Mr. Fairchild and 
I, providing ourselves with compasses and field 
glasses, made an exploratory tramp of a few 
miles. The season had now advanced to June 27, 
and at such time in our latitude (63 deg- 44 min.) 
we had no darkness, although the sun dipped 
below the horizon, for a short time. The hours 
of night were, therefore, as suitable for travel 
as those of the day, and hence it was 10 p. m., 
when, scanning the valleys and hill-sides with 
my powerful stereoscopic field glasses, I observed 
a band of musk oxen feeding a mile or more to 
the northward. Fifteen of them were counted 
in all, and this was a genuine surprise, since we 
had not expected to see any of these animals for 
some time to come. They were none the less 
welcome, for our camp -was much in need of 
fresh meat, and stimulated by this knowledge we 
procured two rifles from camp and set off in one 
of the canoes with two Indians, on a midnight 
hunt. The lake had now become quite calm, and 
were assuredly most interesting around “Musk Ox 
hill.” 
Although our rifles were of the most modern 
and very powerful, one “soft nose” was by no 
means sufficient to bring the bulls to earth. We 
had to spring to our feet, and defend ourselves 
from the charge of several of the infuriated 
band, which was, however, soon despatched be¬ 
fore our deadly missiles. One of the large bulls 
killed was found upon examination to carry six 
mortal wounds, and three holes through his heart, 
all of which he had received before falling. Such 
was found to be the tenacity of these noble beasts. 
. A young wounded musk ox which charged 
upon one of my men, and made matters decidedly 
lively for a time, was photographed by me be¬ 
fore he fell at 1 o’clock a. m. He had previously 
been snapped by Mr. Fairchild, as the brute was 
charging upon him, but the light was not suffi¬ 
cient at that hour for an instantaneous photo¬ 
graph, and nothing resulted. 
As we glided quickly and quietly down the 
photograph them. A notable fact in regard to 
the musk oxen was that every animal seen, with 
but one exception, was on the north side of the 
Thelon, or on islands in the river. On one occa¬ 
sion when three musk oxen were met with upon 
an island, they immediately plunged into the 
water and swam rapidly to the north shore, after 
gaining which they could be seen galloping 
across the plains for miles. 
Game Along an Unknown River. 
As Mr. Tyrrell proceeded on his way toward 
Hudson Bay, he passed down the Thelon River. 
What better idea of the game conditions could 
be had than the following: 
Besides the musk oxen, the Thelon was evi¬ 
dently frequented on both sides by great num¬ 
bers of caribou, as their tracks were everywhere 
to be seen, though few of the deer were met with 
until the lower stretches of the river were 
reached, their northward migration having pre¬ 
ceded us. 
Many broods of geese were also observed 
