180 THE MOOSE HUNTER. 



Rocky Mountains, but on a trail that leads over 

 a sandy waste, just before descending into the 

 valley of the Flathead river, I picked up several 

 shed moose-antlers ; this was about 4,000 feet 

 above the sea. Traders of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company and Indians have also told me that 

 moose are frequently killed on the western slope 

 of the Rocky Mountains. I feel quite sure that 

 the moose still inhabits the Galton range of 

 mountains, and would be also found, if properly 

 sought for, in the open timbered land at the base 

 of the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. 



The district is well adapted to the habits of the 

 moose : the ground irregular, and covered with 

 an open forest-growth, in the hollows forms mossy 

 swamps, in which grows an abundance of willow, 

 the young shoots of which constitute the favou- 

 rite food of the moose. A moose-hunter is ever 

 watchful for cropped willow-branches or morsels 

 of partially- chewed food, dropped as the animal 

 walked along. A moose always walks on the 

 very points of its toes, so that its track is in dots 

 arranged in pairs, at a distance of three to four feet 

 from each other. If the ground is very soft, the foot- 

 prints are more like those of a wapiti, but a 

 practised eye can tell the difference at a glance. 



As a rule, a hunter never follows directly on 



