I had not seen
the great herd of Caribou returning to the woods that are their
winter range.
This herd is said to rival in numbers the Buffalo herds of story,
to reach farther than the eye can see, and to be days in passing
a given point; but it is utterly erratic. It might arrive in early
September. It was not sure to arrive until late October, when the
winter had begun. This year all the indications were that it would
be late. If we were to wait for it, it would mean going out on the
ice. For this we were wholly unprepared. There were no means of
getting the necessary dogs, sleds, and fur garments; my business
was calling me back to the East. It was useless to discuss the
matter, decision was forced on me. Therefore, without having seen
that great sight, one of the world's tremendous zoological spectacles
the march in one body of millions of Caribou - I reluctantly gave
the order to start. On September 8 we launched the Ann Seton on
her homeward voyage of 1,200 upstream miles.
CHAPTER XXXIX
FAREWELL TO THE CARIBOU
All along the shore of Artillery Lake we saw small groups of Caribou.
They were now in fine coat; the manes on the males were long and
white and we saw two with cleaned antlers; in one these were of a
brilliant red, which I suppose meant that they were cleaned that
day and still bloody.
We arrived at the south end of Artillery Lake that night, and were
now again in the continuous woods what spindly little stuff it
looked when we left it; what superb forest it looked now - and here
we bade good-bye to the prairies and their Caribou.
Now, therefore, I shall briefly summarise the information I gained
about this notable creature. The species ranges over all the
treeless plains and islands of Arctic America. While the great body
is migratory, there are scattered individuals in all parts at all
seasons. The main body winters in the sheltered southern third of
the range, to avoid the storms, and moves north in the late spring,
to avoid the plagues of deer-flies and mosquitoes. The former
are found chiefly in the woods, the latter are bad everywhere; by
travelling against the wind a certain measure of relief is secured,
northerly winds prevail, so the Caribou are kept travelling northward.
When there is no wind, the instinctive habit of migration doubtless
directs the general movement.
How are we to form an idea of their numbers? The only way seems
to be by watching the great migration to its winter range. For the
reasons already given this was impossible in my case, therefore,
I array some of the known facts that will evidence the size of the
herd.
Warburton Pike, who saw them at Mackay Lake, October 20, 1889, says:
"I cannot believe that the herds [of Buffalo] on the prairie ever
surpassed in size La Foule (the throng) of the Caribou.
