eight. A single antler has been known to weigh fifty-six pounds.

The neck of the elk is much shorter than its head, which gives it almost a deformed appearance, though such a formation is in fact rendered necessary by the great weight of its antlers, which could not be so easily supported upon a neck of greater length. Notwithstanding the length of its muzzle, it collects its food with difficulty from the ground, being obliged either greatly to spread out or to bend its limbs. From this results its propensity to browse upon the tender twigs and leaves of trees,-a mode of feeding which the keepers of the French menagerie found it very difficult to alter in the individual under their charge. The upper part of the mouth is prolonged almost in the form of a small trunk, and furnished with muscles, which give it great flexibility of movement, and enable it rapidly to collect its food. In summer, during the prevalence of the gadflies in the Scandinavian peninsula, it plunges into marshes, where it often lies day and night, with nothing above water but its head. It is even said to browse upon the aquatic plants beneath the surface, making at the same time a loud blowing sound through its nostrils.

The American elks live in small troops in swampy places. Their gait, according to Dr. Harlan, is generally a trot, and they are less active than most other deer. The old individuals lose their horns in January and February, and the young in April and May. In regard to their geographical distribution, they appear to have been formerly found as far south as the Ohio. At present they occur only in the more northern parts of the United States, and beyond the Great Lakes. Captain Franklin met with several during his last expedition, feeding on willows at the mouth of the Mackenzie, in lat. 69°. Although they are said to form small herds in Canada, yet in the more northern parts they are very solitary, more than one being seldom seen, except during the rutting-season, or when the female is accompanied by her fawns. The sense of hearing is remarkably acute in this species, and it is described as the shyest and most wary of the deer-tribe. It is an inoffensive animal, unless when irritated by a wound, when its great strength renders it formidable, or during rutting-time, when it will kill a dog or a wolf by a single blow of its fore-foot. It is much sought after by the American Indians, both on account of the flesh,

which is palatable, and the hides, with which they in part manufacture their canoes, and several articles of dress. The grain of the flesh is coarse, and it is tougher than that of any other kind of venison. In its flavour it rather resembles beef. The nose is excellent, and so is the tongue, although the latter is by no means so fat and delicate as that of the reindeer. The male elk sometimes weighs from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds.

The reindeer (Cervus tarandus) is widely distributed over the northern parts of both the Old and New World. It has long been domesticated in Scandinavia, and is an animal of incalculable importance to the Laplander. We are less acquainted with the nature and attributes of the American species; but we shall here follow the prevailing opinion, and consider it identical with that of the north of Europe and of Asia. There appear to be two varieties of reindeer in the fur-countries. One of these is confined to the woody and more southern districts, the other retires to the woods only during the winter season, and passes the summer either in the Barren Grounds or along the shores of the Arctic Sea. Hearne's description applies to the latter kind, while the accounts given by the earlier French writers on Canada relate to the former.

The reindeer of the Barren Grounds is of small stature, and so light of weight that a man may carry a full-grown doe across his shoulder. The bucks are of larger dimensions, and weigh, exclusive of the offal, from 90 to 130 pounds. The skin of the reindeer is light, and being closely covered with hair, it forms a suitable and highlyprized article of winter-apparel. "The skins of the young deer make the best dresses, and they should be killed for that purpose in the months of August or September, as after the latter date the hair becomes too long and brittle. The prime parts of eight or ten deer-skins make a complete suit of clothing for a grown person, which is so impervious to the cold, that with the addition of a blanket of the same material, any one so clothed may bivouac on the snow with safety, and even with comfort, in the most intense cold of an arctic winter's night." ""* Dr. Richardson is of opinion that the flavour of the reindeer flesh is superior to that of

* Fauna Boreali-Americana, vol. i. p. 242.

the finest English mutton. However, the animal must be in prime condition, as its lean state is comparatively worse than that of other creatures. Pemmican is formed by pouring one-third part of melted fat over the flesh of the reindeer after it is dried and pounded. Of all the deertribe of America this species is the most easily approached, and immense numbers are slaughtered for the use of the Indian families.

The other variety of reindeer to which we have alluded above is called the woodland caribou. It is much larger than that of the Barren Grounds, has smaller horns, and is greatly inferior as an article of diet. The most remark

able peculiarity in the habits of this animal is, that it travels to the southward in the spring. It crosses the Nelson and the Severn Rivers in vast herds during the month of May, and spends the summer on the low marshy shores of James's Bay, returning inland, and in a northerly direction, in September.*

Passing over the prong-horned antelope (A. furcifer, Smith), an inhabitant of the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchawan, remarkable for its extreme swiftness, we shall devote a few pages to the natural history of the wild sheep and goat of the Rocky Mountains, two of the most remarkable and important of the native quadrupeds of North America. (See the following Plate.)

The Rocky Mountain sheep (Ovis montana, Desm. and Rich.) inhabits the range from which it derives its name, from its northern termination, or at least from latitude 68°, to the fortieth degree of north latitude. It also dwells among many of the elevated and craggy ridges which intersect the country lying to the westward, between the principal range and the shores of the Pacific Ocean; but it does not appear to have advanced beyond the eastern declivities of the Rocky Mountains, and it consequently does not occur in any of the hilly tracts nearer to Hudson's Bay. The favourite feeding-places of this species are grassy knolls, skirted by craggy rocks, to which they can retreat when pursued by dogs or wolves." Its flesh, when in sea

66

For the history of the wapiti (C. strongyloceros), the black-tailed deer (C. macrotis, Say), and the long-tailed deer (C. leucurus, Douglas), we must refer to the writings of the various travellers and systematic authors named in the course of these chapters.

son, is stated by Mr. Drummond to be quite delicious,-as being far superior to that of any of the deer-species, and even as exceeding in flavour the finest English mutton. This showy animal exceeds the Asiatic argali in size, and is much larger than the largest varieties of the domestic breeds. The horns of the male are very large. The ears are of moderate size. The facial line is straight, and the general form of the animal, being, as it were, intermediate between that of the sheep and stag, is not devoid of elegance. The hair is like that of the reindeer, short, fine, and flexible, in its autumn growth; but as the winter advances, it becomes coarse, dry, and brittle, though still soft to the touch: it is necessarily erect at this season, from its extreme closeness. The limbs are covered with shorter hairs. In regard to colours, the head, buttock, and posterior part of the abdomen are white; the rest of the body and the neck are of a pale or dusky wood-brown. A deeper and more lustrous brown prevails on the fore-part of the legs. The tail is dark-brown, and a narrow brown line, extending from its base, divides the buttock, and unites with the brown colour of the back. The colours reside in the ends of the hair, and as these are rubbed off during the progress of winter, the tints become paler.

The horns of the female are much smaller, and nearly erect, having but a slight curvature, and an inclination backwards and outwards.*

The following are the dimensions of an old Rocky Mountain ram, killed on the south branch of the Mackenzie, and now in the Museum of the Zoological Society of London.

These animals collect in flocks consisting of from three to thirty, the young rams and the females herding together during the winter and spring, while the old rams form

The Edinburgh College Museum contains a fine specimen of the female Rocky Mountain sheep.