THE MOOSE. 179 



canoe I was ever in, but with skilled hands 

 carry a fair-sized load, and pass rapidly over 

 rather than through the water. 



The altitude of the Kootanie pass above the 

 sea-level is about 2,100 feet. Crossing the 

 lower corner of this immense valley, our trail 

 led up to the Galton Mountains, a massive 

 range dividing the Kootanie and Flat-head rivers, 

 and attaining an altitude of quite 8,000 'feet 

 above the sea-level. These mountains afford on 

 their slopes admirable pasturage for horses and 

 ruminants, being the favourite hunting-grounds 

 of the Kootanies west of the Rocky Mountains. 



I may mention, incidentally, that buffalos 

 never pass from the east to the west side of the 

 Rocky Mountains; hence the Kootanies cross 

 the Kootanie pass every summer to hunt on the 

 plains east of the mountains, for buffalo-meat, 

 and their skins called robes. This will be the 

 best place to briefly describe the different 

 species of deer I saw in British Columbia, or 

 in Washington Territory, immediately adjoining 

 it ; most of them, if not all, are to be found in 

 the Kootanie country. 



THE MOOSE (Alee americanus, Jardine). I 

 never obtained a specimen, neither did I ever 

 see the moose-deer on the west side of the 



N 2 



