THE MOOSE. 205 



the herd two calves ; one of these, three months old, was 

 taken at one effort, another of fifteen months, though 

 seized by eight trackers, overturned them all, and fled." 

 It was subsequently taken, as were five others, in another 

 part of the forest, one of them only a few days old. The 

 savage imj^atience of man manifested by these young 

 sylvan s, was in the ratio of their age and sex. The bull 

 of fifteen months maintained for a long time its sullen 

 and morose behaviour ; it became furious at the approach 

 of man, tossing its head, lashing its tail, and presenting 

 its horns. After a while, however, it became tolerant of 

 its keeper, and w^as allowed a measure of liberty.* 



All the kinds of deer are shy and timid, but that fine 

 species the moose of North America is peculiarly jealous 

 and suspicious. The Indians declare that he is more shy 

 and difficult to take than any other animal ; more vigilant, 

 more acute of sense, than the reindeer or bison ; fleeter 

 than the wapiti, more sagacious and more cautious 

 than the deer. In the most furious tempest, when the 

 wind, and the thunder, and the groaning of the trees, and 

 the crash of fallino- timber, are combininsj to fill the ear 

 with an incessant roar, if a man, either with foot or hand, 

 break the smallest dry twig in the forest, the Indians 

 aver that the moose will take notice of it ; he may not 

 instantly take to flight, but he ceases to eat, and con- 

 centrates his attention. If, in the course of an hour or 

 so, the man neither moves nor makes the slightest noise, 

 the animal may begin to feed again ; but he does not forget 



* Proc. Zool. Soc, 1843, p. 16. 



