A GIANT MOOSE. 323 



about eight o'clock, just as it was getting dark, 

 and received a very warm welcome from my 

 friends, who, with Mr. and Mrs. Leith, had 

 got through the long severe winter quite com- 

 fortably, and enjoyed very good health all the 

 time, 



Mr. Armstrong told me that during the winter, 

 moose had collected in great numbers along 

 Russell Creek to browse on the birch and willow 

 trees which grow there in great profusion. 



Once he and his wife when out on snow shoes 

 along the trail, had seen from one spot twenty- 

 five moose, scattered around the hillsides singly 

 or in twos and threes. On another occasion 

 towards the end of the year Mr. Armstrong had 

 seen eleven moose all together. This band 

 consisted of nine bulls and a cow and a caK. 

 The leading bull, my friend said, was much 

 larger in body than any of the others, and 

 carried an enormous pair of horns. 



This giant bull had frequented the valley of 

 Russell Creek all through the winter, and had 

 been seen by the other two members of Mr. 

 Armstrong's party, as well as by John Barr the 



