As we were turning in for the night 30 Caribou came trotting and
snorting through the camp. Half of them crossed the water, but the
rest turned back when Billy shouted.
Later a band of two hundred passed through and around our tents.
In the morning Billy complained that he could not sleep all night
for Caribou travelling by his tent and stumbling over the guy ropes.
From this time on we were nearly always in sight of Caribou, small
bands or scattering groups; one had the feeling that the whole land
was like this, on and on and on, unlimited space with unlimited
wild herds.
A year afterward as I travelled in the fair State of Illinois,
famous for its cattle, I was struck by the idea that one sees far
more Caribou in the north than cattle, in Illinois. This State has
about 56,000 square miles, of land and 3,000,000 cattle; the Arctic
Plains have over 1,000,000 square miles of prairie, which, allowing
for the fact that I saw the best of the range, would set, the Caribou
number at over 30,000,000. There is a, good deal of evidence that
this is not far from the truth.
The reader may recollect the original postulate of my plan. Other
travellers have gone, relying on the abundant Caribou, yet saw none,
so starved. I relied on no Caribou, I took plenty of groceries,
and because I was independent, the Caribou walked into camp nearly
every day, and we lived largely on their meat, saving our groceries
for an emergency, which came in an unexpected form.
