To determine accurately the geographical distribution of an animal of such wandering habits as the caribou, or American reindeer (Cervus tarandus-Linn.; Rangifer Caribou-Audubon and Bachman), is extremely difficult. Every few years make a change. One year finds the species receding from haunts previously occupied and encroaching upon grounds hitherto unfrequented; and in some districts, from various causes, we find them exterminated.

I may say, however, that the caribou largely inhabits Labrador and Newfoundland, still exists in considerable numbers in the province of New Brunswick, in the wilderness regions of the Restigouché, in the country watered by the upper southwest branch of the Miramichi, also on Cairns River-another branch of the Miramichi. He is also abundant at the headwaters of Green River, in the county of Madawaska. In Queens County, he is found at head of Grand Lake, Salmon River. In Kent County he is again met with on the Kishanaguak and Kishanaguaksis, also frequently on the Bathurst road, between Bathurst and Chatham. A few years ago the animals were quite numerous in Charlotte County, and are still occasionally met with. In the adjoining province of Nova Scotia their numbers are gradually decreasing, their strongholds at present being confined to the Cobequid Mountains and the uplands of Cape Breton. Going westward and south of the St. Lawrence, the caribou is again met with in Rimouski, his haunts extending southward along the borders of the state of Maine and the country south of the city of Quebec to New Hampshire. The moose is found with him all through this district, and also the Virginia deer in its southern part. North of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, the caribou ranges all through the vast forest regions as far as the southern limits of Hudson's Bay, and is abundant in the north-west territories, as far as the McKenzie River, and is also found inhabiting the high lands of British Columbia.

In the state of Maine they are met with in tolerable abundance, and if the existing game-laws are strictly enforced, we may hope that their numbers will not be diminished. In the wilderness tracts of that state there are vast stretches of barrens, amply provided with the reindeer lichen

and interspersed with innumerable lakes and uplands, constituting a country admirably adapted to the habits of the caribou. It has been said that the caribou extends along the border west of Lake Superior to the Pacific, but as late as 1874 none were found along the border of Dakota and Montana. If the species reaches the wooded region at and west of the Rocky Mountains, its presence does not seem to be well attested. It is, however, said to occur in Washington Territory, but I may add that a competent authority doubts the existence of the caribou in the United States west of the Red River of the North. Within the last year, the presence of the caribou in Minnesota and Wisconsin has been authenticated.

The

The prevailing color of the caribou is a dark fawn inclining to gray, darkest at the tips of the hairs, on the sides, ears, face, and outside of the legs, and fading to almost pure white on the neck and throat. under part of the body and tail is white, and a ring of white encircles the legs just above the hoof. Some specimens have a light spot on the shoulders, and a black patch on the mouth. It is not uncommon to find aged and full-grown animals adorned with a flowing mane, which adds greatly to the grace and beauty of their appearance. midwinter, I have noticed departures from the above description, the coats of some animals inclining more to light gray, and in others one-half of the body was very light gray, and the other half much darker. In particular, I remember having killed a doe of extraordinary size and beauty of form, whose general color was an exceedingly rich dark brown, and entirely different from that of any other caribou in the herd.

In

The heads and antlers of the caribou present much diversity of form, and seldom are any two found alike. In the same herd I have seen heads very like that of a two-yearold colt, then again, others had pronounced Roman noses, the whole head appearing much longer. In some instances, the palmation extends throughout the horns, while in others, such as the Labrador caribou, it is often confined to the tines at the top of the horn, the main stem being nearly round. Again, we find in the caribou inhabiting Newfoundland, horns of very great size, perfect in palmation, and in many cases having both brow antlers developed.

The construction of the caribou's hoof differs from that of any other animal of the deer tribe, and is wonderfully adapted to the services it is required to perform, and enables the animal to travel in deep snows, over frozen lakes and icy crusts, when the moose and deer are confined to their yards, and at the mercy of their foes. Toward the end of the season the frog begins to be absorbed, and in the month of December is entirely so, at the same time the hoof expands and becomes concave, with sharp and very hard shell-like edges. A full-grown caribou stands nearly five feet at the shoulder, and weighs from four hundred to four hundred and fifty pounds.

The animal is very compact in form, possessed of great speed and endurance, and is a very Ishmaelite in its wandering habits; changing, as the pest of flies draws near, from the low-lying swamps and woods where its principal article of diet, the Cladonia rangeferina, or reindeer lichen, abounds, to the highest mountain fastnesses; then again as the cold nights give warning of the changing season, descending to the plains.

The rutting season begins early in the month of September, the antlers then have attained their full growth and the animals engage in fierce conflicts, similar to those indulged in by the moose, and frequently with as tragic an ending. The does bring forth one, and sometimes two, fawns in the month of May; and bucks, does, and the young, herd together in numbers varying from nine or ten individuals to several hundreds. Horns are common to both sexes, but the horns of the bucks are seldom carried later than the month of December, while the does

carry theirs all winter, and use them to defend the fawns against the attacks of the bucks.

Both sexes use their hoofs to clear away the snow in searching for mosses on the barrens. In their biennial migrations, they form well-defined tracks or paths, along which the herds travel in Indian file. I have often studied their habits on the extensive caribou barrens between New River and the head of Lake Utopia, in Charlotte County, New Brunswick. These barrens are about sixteen miles in extent, and marked with well-defined trails, over which the animals were constantly passing and re-passing, here and there spending a day where the lichens afforded good living, then away again on their never-ending wanderings.

A friend of mine, who visited Newfoundland on an exploring expedition, informs me that there the caribou holds almost exclusive domain over an unbroken wilderness of nearly thirty thousand square miles, in a country wonderfully adapted to his habits, and bountifully supplied with his favorite. food-the reindeer lichen.

The caribou is possessed of much curiosity, and does not readily take alarm at what he sees. Where his haunts have been unmolested, he will unconcernedly trot up within range of the rifle. I am inclined to believe that a great deal of this apparent fearlessness is due to defective vision. If this is so, he is compensated by having a marvelous gift of scent, quite equal, if not superior, to that of the moose. And well for the caribou that he is thus gifted. The wolf follows the herds throughout all their wanderings. On the plains or on the hills, where the poor caribou retire to rear their young, he is constantly

lurking near, ready to pounce on any straggler, or-if in sufficient numbers-to boldly attack the herd.

The woodland caribou is very swift, and cunning in devices to escape his pursuers; his gait is a long swinging trot, which he performs with his head erect and scut up, and there is no animal of the deer tribe that affords better sport or more delicious food when captured. The wandering habits of the caribou make it very uncertain where one will fall in with him, even in his accustomed and well-known haunts. When once started, the chase is sure to be a long one, and its results doubtful,-in fact so much so that an old hunter seldom follows up a retreating herd, but resorts to strategy and tries to head them off, or at once proceeds by the shortest way to some other barren in hopes of finding them there. It seems to be a mooted question, whether the barren-ground caribou (R. Groenlandi cus) found inhabiting the Arctic regions and shores of Hudson's Bay, is another species, or only a variety of the woodland caribou. The barren-ground caribou is a much smaller animal, and seldom exceeds one hundred and fifty pounds weight, while large specimens of the woodland caribou weigh nearly five hundred pounds.

The caribou is very fond of the water, is a capital swimmer, and in jumping he is more than the equal of any other deer. His adventurous disposition, no doubt, in some degree influences the geographical distribution of the species. In the month of December, 1877, a caribou was discovered

floating out to sea on a cake of ice near Dalhousie, on the Restigouché River in New Brunswick, and was captured alive by some men who put off to him in a boat.

It is said that in very severe seasons, large numbers of caribou cross from Labrador to Newfoundland on the ice. His admirably constructed hoof, with its sharp, shell-like, cutting edges, enables him to cross the icy floes; when traveling in deep snow, its lateral expansion prevents him from sinking. The hoof figured in this paper is drawn from nature, and measures fourteen inches in circumference, five inches in diameter, and has a lateral spread of ten inches.

At one time the Indians were as great adepts at calling the woodland caribou, as they are in the present day in deluding the moose. My Indian friend Sebatis is the only Indian I know who can imitate the calls of the caribou, and he has for a long time given up this manner of hunting. He informs me that, from being so much hunted and molested in their haunts, the caribou have become much more timid and wary even during the rutting season, and also seem to be much more critical of the sounds produced by the birch-bark call, and consequently very seldom respond thereto.

The quiet gray color of the caribou is well adapted to conceal his presence from the hunter, and it requires an educated eye to pick out his form on the heathy barren, where everything assimilates to him in color, and were it not for occasional effects of light disclosing his position, the hunter might frequently pass within easy shot without seeing him. The Indians are so well aware of this, that they always approach a barren with extreme caution, always traveling down wind, and never disconcerted if game is not sighted at once. Nor is the case improved when one comes to hunt for them in the forest; there, the gray tree-trunks and tangled undergrowth make it extremely difficult to see them.

The caribou, whatever may be his need for haste, seldom bounds or gallops except for a few jumps when first he spies his enemy, and then only for an instant, for presently he drops into his accustomed trot, which carries him over the ground with great rapidity, and then no matter how old a hand the hunter may be, nothing but the admirable skill in venery of his Indian guide will afford him the slightest chance of coming up with the game again.

The indifference or curiosity with regard

to the noise of fire-arms exhibited by the caribou often stands the hunter in good stead, and affords him a chance for a second shot, should his first prove ineffectual; for it is not uncommon for a herd to stand stock-still on hearing the report of a gun, even when one of their number has fallen a victim thereto. The pause is but for an instant, and the hunter must be quick to take advantage of it, or his chance will be gone before he is aware of it, for, recovering quickly from the shock, or alarm, or whatever it may be, the herd dash off at a rattling pace through the thick timber.

A caribou, if not mortally wounded, will endeavor to keep up with the herd, and will travel a long way without giving out. If near the seacoast, the wounded animal seeks it to die, and is often thus recovered by the hunter. In such cases, the skill of the Indian again comes in play, and he will follow the track of the wounded animal, readily picking it out from all the others, and seldom failing to run it down. The Indians

say that the caribou likes to feed on seaweed, and goes to the coast in the spring and fall of the year for that purpose.

Once upon a time, not so long ago as when little birds built their nests in old men's beards," but quite long enough to make one regret the days when caribou were plenty on all the barrens in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, the writer, in company with his Indian friend Sebatis, and an old Indian named Tomah, traveled all day in pursuit of a herd of caribou, and, after losing much time lying in ambush behind a big bowlder, were suddenly overtaken by night-fall, which, in the short November days, shuts down without warning. "How far to camp, Sebatis ?" I inquired. "Well, s'pose daylight, about five miles; but so dark now, you see makes it good deal further."

"Can you find the camp?"

"Find 'im camp? Sartin, but take good while, so dark, can't see nothin' 'tall, tum

CARIBOU MIGRATING.

ble down good deal, you see, so many win'falls, then may be get in swamp besides."

Had daylight given us the opportunity of selecting a camping-place, we could not have found a spot better suited to our purpose than the grove of grand old firs and hemlocks that hemmed us in on every side and sheltered us with broad, spreading branches. In front we had a forest lake, on the outskirts of our stronghold a plentiful supply of hard wood stood ready for the ax which Tomah was just releasing from its cover of leather.

The darkness and silence of these old woods were appalling, and as I stood leaning on the old tree against which we had piled our rifles, I gladly welcomed the quick strokes of Tomah's ax, that was already dealing death-blows to the birches and maples.

Sebatis had gone off in search of dry wood to start the fire. I had not heard him return, and was watching a curious object moving about in the gloom with something like the