THE MUSK-OX
In the afternoon, Preble, Billy, and I went northward on foot to
look for Musk-ox. A couple of miles from camp I left the others
and went more westerly.
After wandering on for an hour, disturbing Longspurs, Snowbirds,
Pipits, Groundsquirrel, and Caribou, I came on a creature that gave
me new thrills of pleasure. It was only a Polar Hare, the second we
had seen; but its very scarceness here, at least this year, gave
it unusual interest, and the Hare itself helped the feeling by
letting me get near it to study, sketch, and photograph.
It was exactly like a Prairie Hare in all its manners, even to the
method of holding its tail in running, and this is one of the most
marked and distinctive peculiarities of the different kinds.
On the 16th of August we left Lockhart's River, knowing now that
the north arm of the lake was our way. We passed a narrow bay out
of which there seemed to be a current, then, on the next high land,
noted a large brown spot that moved rather quickly along. It was
undoubtedly some animal with short legs, whether a Wolverine a
mile away, or a Musk-ox two miles away, was doubtful. Now did that
canoe put on its six-mile gait, and we soon knew for certain
that the brown thing was a Musk-ox.
