128 THE GREAT DENE RACE.

Rich.), and the humbler but not less useful hoary marinot (Arctomys caligatus),
all of which are exclusively mountain animals, and one, Ovis Dallii, is, | think,
found exclusively on the spurs of the Rocky Mountains immediately to the
west of the lower Mackenzie. None of them appear east of the Rockies. To
these we might add the true bighorn (Ovis canadensis, Shaw), which is said
to exist in the ranges of the south, but of which I have no personal know-
ledge. Both the common or American mountain sheep and the mountain goat
inhabit fastnesses well within British Columbia and Alaska; but, with the
exception of the marmot, which is gregarious though sedentary, all the moun-
tain game are solitary in their habits, and their haunts are usually difficult
of access.

For that reason their economic importance is not to be compared with
that of even such a lowly animal as the American hare (Lepus americanus),
commonly called rabbit in the north. Its very ubiquitousness renders it a
valuable alimentary article, though, living mostly on the bark of sapplings
generally more or less resinous, its flesh is much inferior to that of the
European hare. It is also much smaller, and, as is well known, though naturally
gray in colour, it turns to a perfect white on the approach of winter, and so
remains till the early spring.

Hare is the game of the poor, of the orphan and the widow, inasmuch
as the use of fire-arms or even of the bow and arrows is by no means ne-
cessary to secure it. Every morning of the winter months, women and children
visit their rabbit snares, as they do during the fair season with regard to their
fish-nets. Rather scarce in the beginning, its numbers regularly increase until
the seventh year, when they are to be seen everywhere. Then they disappear
of a sudden, migrating for the lack of shrubs to gnaw, according to some,
but more probably stricken by some sort of epidemic, as not a few of their
remains are then to be found in the woods.

Nor should we forget the great importance which the hoary marmot has
in the north, owing to the usefulness of its skin, which goes to make tra-
velling robes for the winter toboggans, as well as cloaks and other articles
of dress. Its congener, the ground-hog (A. monax, Linn.), is far less abundant.
The porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus), which was formerly sought chiefly for
the sake of its quills, is now valued only for the food it yields. This is quite
appreciated by the native palate; but my own experience would lead me to
remark that, when improperly prepared, the flesh of few animals has such a
disagreeable taste.

The Musk-Ox.

Well cooked or not, the flesh of the musk-ox can hardly ever tempt the
Epicurean. The musk-ox is the monarch of part of the frigid zone of North
America, remarkable alike for its zoological peculiarities and for the limited
perimeter of its habitat. Its scientific name, Ovivos moschatus, stamps itasa
sort of connecting link between the ox and the sheep. It has the feet and