Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/797

 CARIBBEAN SEA CARIBOU 787 CARIBBEAN SEA, that portion of the Atlantic lying between Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Porto Rico on the north, Venezuela and Colombia on the south, the Lesser Antilles on the east, and Central America and Yucatan on the west, and communicating with the gulf of Mexico through a channel about 120 m. wide, extend- ing from the W. point of Cuba to the E. point of Yucatan. Its shores are high and rocky, and contain some gulfs of considerable extent. Its navigation for the most part is clear and open. CARIBBEE ISLANDS. See ANTILLES, and WEST INDIES. CARIBOU (rangifer caribou), the American reindeer. Richardson observes that there are two well marked permanent varieties of cari- bou that inhabit the fur countries: one of them, the woodland caribou above indicated, confined to the woody and more southern dis- trict, and the other, the barren ground caribou (R. Grainlcmdicus), retiring to the woods only in the winter, but passing the summer on the Caribou. coast of the Arctic ocean, or on the barren grounds so often mentioned in his work. There is a large variety in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, having extraordinarily large and heavy horns. It is said by Dr. Gray that the horns of the Newfoundland variety, some of which are preserved in the British museum, greatly resemble those of the Siberian animal ; but Pallas remarks that the American species differ from the former in the structure of the hoof, and are absolutely American ani- mals. The color of the caribou of North Amer- ica is in the summer a rich, glossy, reddish brown, becoming more grizzly, especially about the head, neck, and belly, toward the winter ; but if never becomes anything approaching to white. The antlers of the woodland caribou, on rising from the head, curve backward and then forward in a segment of perhaps the sixth of a circle for about half their length, or somewhat less; then curve backward again, and again forward, making in the upper sweep nearly a semicircle. They have no backward branch or spur whatever, except one short point close to the tip. The main branch of the antlers is cylindrical, much smoother than those of the red deer or wapiti, and at the upper extremity has two, three, or four, but seldom more than two, sharp cylindrical spikes. That, however, which constitutes the main difference between the antlers of this animal and of the tame reindeer, or indeed of any other of the deer tribe, is this : that while on the upper extremities of the horns are rounded spikes, the lower branches are broad palmated surfaces. The lower of these, or brow antler, which is the principal defensive weapon of the animal, curves downward over the eyes, and is several inches in breadth, with many sharp spurs or points round the lower border. The second, or superior process, which shoots hori- zontally forward from the point where the two curvatures of the main antler meet, is longer than the lower or brow antler, and looks as if it were more so than it really is, from the di- rect line in which it projects, instead of being deflected downward. The forward points of the brow antler, the sur-antler, and the upper tips or extremities of the whole, are as nearly as possible in a right line. The measurement of a medium-sized set of antlers, from New- foundland, is as follows: extreme width from tip to tip, 1 ft. 4J in. ; length of the exterior curvature, from root to tip, 2 ft. 3A in. ; direct height, 23 in. ; girth at the root of the antler, 5 in. ; at the insertion of the upper prong, 4 in. ; length of palmated brow antler, 11 in., breadth 8 in., processes 7 in number; length of the sur-antler 12 in., breadth 8 in., processes 3, very strong and sharp. The prongs of the upper extremity are irregular, one antler hav- ing three, the other two points. The caribou has a short tail, like that of a hare or rabbit, and entirely different from the long tail of the red deer or wapiti. The hoofs have an im- mense spread, owing to the extension of the cleft of the hoof through the cornet, and far up the pastern of the animal, which gives it, when running over soft snow, or, what is worse, over a crusted surface, a support almost equal to that of a snow shoe. The average weight of the woodland caribou is from 250 to 300 Ibs., that of the barren ground caribou from 90 to 130 Ibs. ; those of Spitzbergen and Mel- ville island do not exceed 125 Ibs. The length of the. caribou is 6 ft., with a tail of 6 in. ; height at shoulder, 3J ft. To the natives of North America the reindeer is known only as an animal of chase, but it is a most important one; there is hardly a part of the animal which is not made available to some useful purpose. Clothing made of the skin is, according to Dr. Richardson, so impervious to the cold that, with the addition of a blanket of the same material, any one so clothed may bivouac on the snow with safety, in the most intense cold of an arctic winter night. The venison, when in high condition, has several inches of fat on