102 BRITISH AMERICA.

It has often been confounded with the moose, but it is quite a different animal. The horns of the elk are not palmated, and are longer than those of any other quadruped. Probably not one of these immense animals is now to be met with east of Lake Superior or the Mississippi.

The species of deer called by the Indians we-was- kish, has been confounded, even by Mr Pennant, with the moose deer, and by others with the carri- boo. Its horns are, in appearance, something like those of the common deer, with fewer branches, and standing more upright. Its head is unlike that of the moose, having small lips, and the nose pointed like that of a sheep. They generally keep in large herds, are the most stupid of the deer kind, and make a shrill braying noise, that often betrays them. Their hair is of a sandy red, and they are usually called red deer by the English fur traders. The flesh is tolerable eating, but the fat is as hard as tallow, and disagreeable to eat, as it hardens immediately in the mouth, even if eaten as hot as possible. Their skins, when dressed, are thinner than those of moose deer, and will wash and dry afterwards as pliable and soft as before, while none of the other leather dressed by the Indians will dry without shrivelling, or becoming hard, unless great care be taken to keep constantly rubbing it while drying.

The buffalo (bison) delights in wide, open savan- nas, and abounds, in vast herds, west of the great lakes. They are generally larger, or at least heavier, than the oxen of England. The horns are short,