Mr. J. W. Tyrrell (“Through the Sub-Arctics of Canada”) states:—“Black and red as well as white foxes are also commonly found in the country north of the timber line. I have seen and handled a single black foxskin which realized for its owner the sum of one thousand six hundred dollars.”
The Polar Bear.
As to the polar bear, which is found all along the shores of Hudson bay, and the northern coast, Mr. Tyrrell (“Through the Sub-Arctics of Canada”) states:—“In the animal world the polar bear is admittedly the monarch of the north. He is the bear of bears, being described by all Arctic travellers as possessing enormous strength and great voracity. Of the score of polars whose more or less intimate acquaintance I have had occasion to make, I have seen at least two whose tracks in the snow measured fifteen by eighteen inches, whose length measures over nine feet, and whose slain carcases tipped the steelyard at from fifteen to sixteen hundred pounds.”
In the same volume Mr. Tyrrell states:—“Of feathered game there is a great abundance, particularly of waterfowl, the most important of which are:—Brant, Hutchins and snowy geese; northern, American and king eiders; squaw ducks, swans, loons, nurres, guillemots and many other sea fowls. In many places I have seen geese in such numbers that they could be killed by hundreds with sticks. Ptarmigan, also, are found in great numbers in many places in the open country. They are commonly caught by the natives with nets, and form a staple article of food.”
Where the Wild Geese Nest.
Mr. J. W. Tyrrell mentions that two young broods of geese were seen on Dubawnt lake on August 15, 1893. He adds:—“It is commonly said that the breeding place of the wild goose has never been discovered, but here, at any rate, was the breeding place of these.”
In the official report of his trip in 1900, Mr. Tyrrell states:—“Many broods of geese were observed on the low grassy banks of the Thelon. They were of a small grey species, with black necks and heads and white bands around the latter. Later in the season great numbers of moulting geese were met with, and thirty or forty of them were knocked over with sticks for supplying our kettles.
“Ducks and ptarmigan were also met with, though not in great numbers, whilst the spruce woods were enlivened by the songs of singing birds, notably American robins.”
Hearne (p. 170) thus refers to the feathered game in Coppermine river region:—“When at the sea-side (at the mouth of Coppermine river), besides seeing many seals on the ice, I also observed several flocks of sea-fowl flying about the shores, such as gulls, blackheads, loons, old wives, ha-ha-wies, geese, Arctic gulls, and willicks. In the adjacent ponds also were some swans and geese in a moulting state, and in the marshes some curlews and plover; plenty of hawkes-eyes (i.e., the green plover), and some yellow-legs; also several other small birds that visit these northern parts in the spring to breed and moult, and which doubtless return southward as the fall advances. My reason for this conjecture is founded on a certain knowledge that all these birds migrate in Hudson bay, and it is but reasonable to think that they are less capable of withstanding the rigour of such a long and cold winter as they must necessarily experience in a country which is so many degrees within the Arctic circle, as that is where I now (July 1771) saw them.”
Flight of the Waterfowl.