The leader., 1895-09-24
RARREN-GRouNp CARIBOU.

part of the game butchers? Where ars
the hide.huntcrs, the tongue-hunters,
and the grand army Of greedy game
killers generality
Tho reason for the unslsugbtered
condition of tke caribou herds Of thd
far north Is that Jack Frost owns
the Barren Grounds, and by game
butchers Jack Frost is considered
bad medicine" AS usual, the inhab-
its Of Caribouland slaughter the herds
with sickening wastefulness whenever
they get an opportunity; but thus far
the caribou is holding its own fairly
WE'LL save In Alaska.
Mr.. Warbuftdh Pike says that in
summer they keep to the true Barren
Grounds, but in the autumn. when
their feeding grounds are covered with
snow, they seek the hanging moss in
the woods. From what could gather
from the Yellow knife Indians, and
from my own personal experience, it is
late In October that the great bands Of
caribou; t5mtiionly known as La Foule.
mass upon the edge of the woods, and
start for the food and shelter afforded
by the stronger growth of pine farther
southwark" OF this great annual mi
grafton, here is what pluclky Mr.. Pike
actually saw on Lake Cansell, about
sixty miles north OF the eastern end OF
Great Slave lake. It reads like fairy
tale, but nevertheless the account is
undoubtedly true.
Scattered bands of caribou were al.
most always in sight from the top Of
the ridge behind the camp, and in
creased in numbers till the morning OF
October 20 1850, when little Baptiste,
who had gone for firewood, woke us up
before daylight with the cry: La foule!
La foule. (The throng! The through
Even in the lodge we could hear the
curious clatter made by band of travel
ing caribou. La foule had really come,
and during its passage of six days l
was able to realize what an extraor-
binary number of these animals still
roam the Barren grounds"
He thus describes the migration:
From the ridge we had splendid
view of the migration. All the south
side of Mackay lake was alive with the
moving beasts, while the ice seemed to
be dotted all over with black islands,
and still away on the north shore, with
the aid of the glasses, we could see
them coming like regiments on the
march. In every direction we could
hear the granting noise that the carl
bou always make when travelling. The
snow was broken into broad roads, and
found it useless to try to estimate the
mum Der that passed within few miles
of our encampment. We were just on
the western edge OF their passage, and
afterward we heard that band of Dog
Ribs, bunting some forty miles to the
west, were at this very time in the last
straits of starvation, only saving their
lives by a hasty retreat to the woods.
This is a common danger in the
autumn. as the caribou, coming in FROM
the Barren ground, join together in
one vast herd, and do not scatter much
till they reach the thick timber.
The caribou, as is usually the case
when they are in large numbers. were
very tame, and on several occasions
found myself right in the middle of a
band, with a splendid chance to pick
out any that seemed in good condition.
Notwithstanding all the tail
stories THAT are told of their numbers
(the buffaloes), l cannot believe that
the herds on, the prairie ever surpassed
in size La Foule of the earibou."--W
T. Hornaday. in ST. Nicholas.