146 CARIBOU

highest state of development, and in every respect exceed
any other species of that family. In body growth they
almost come up to the wapiti; in fact, some of the bulls
put on such an enormous amount of fat that they might
easily weigh heavier, even if they are not as tall. Nobody
whom I know has ever weighed a full-grown bull caribou,
but if bull-moose ever reach a weight of 1,400 lb., which
they are said to, and which I very much doubt, some
of the Osborn caribou should go 700 Ib. at the very least.
All I actually know of their weight is that it is a hard
struggle for one man to roll the carcase of a big bull over
by himself unless he has a slope to help him. To the
north and south of Cassiar the caribou deteriorate; in
the first case grading off into the Arctic and in the second
into the mountain species.

Both species of our caribou migrate more or less, but
in no case are the distances travelled in these migrations
to be compared with those of their Arctic relatives; nor
do they band up into the like huge droves of thousands,
but move in small companies of anywhere from ten to
forty. Curiously, the mountain caribou of the Selkirks
seem to have more regular migrations than the Osborn,
and year after year they keep to the same route, crossing
valleys, lakes, and rivers at the same places. Nor does
the time of these migrations often vary more than a few
days, and there are several places where anybody could
go to and sit down and be almost sure of seeing a few
head within the period of a week, though at other times
of the year there would not be one of these beasts within
miles of the spot. One of these crossings is situated on
the main line of the C.P.R., where you could camp right
beside the railway track, and all you would have to do
would be to watch one small gravel bar that is not more
than seventy-five yards long. Usually when they come
to this bar, whether singly or in twos or threes, they
linger about on it for a time, perhaps only for half an
hour or perhaps for half a day, The engineers on the
trains often see them at this place. Luckily such crossings
are only known to the favoured few, who keep the know-