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unfortunate man to death. I have heard also of instances where 

 hunters have been treed by wounded moose ; and of one incident where 

 a hunter escaped by dodging around a large tree vmtil he got a second 

 charge into his gun to administer the quietus. To shoot a moose in 

 December or in the middle of January, when he strides proudly along 

 beneath the weight and dignity of his lordly crown, and when he is fat 

 and heavy, is something of which a sportsman may well feel proud ; but 

 to slaughter the unfortunate animals in the latter end of February or 

 Mai'ch, when the females are heavy with young and the males are 

 hornless and lean, is a species of assassin work which ought to be 

 summarily put down by the strong arm of the law, if men are not 

 ashamed of such culpable and inhuman butchery. The moose, which at 

 one time was found in abundance in all the northeastern States of 

 America, at pi^esent holds, says Parker Gil more, " a short leased 

 existence in the northern portions of the State of Maine." They are 

 also in decreasing numbers to be met with in Nova Scotia and New 

 Brunswick, and in various parts of the North- West. Although 

 diminishing every year, they are comparatively plentiful far back on 

 the north side of the Ottawa River throughout its entire length, and in 

 some localities far west on its southern side. In the country lying to the 

 south of James' Bay and stretching westward to Lake Winnipeg, this 

 giant deer can be found in greater abundance than in any other portion 

 of the American continent. Moose are also found in considerable 

 abundance in the country bordering on the St. Lawrence below Quebec, 

 particularly in the Labrador I'egion. Audubon says the moose grows to 

 the height of twenty hands. Others say that they grow even much 

 taller than that. The moose of Labrador are much smaller than those 

 of the State of Maine, or Canada proper, owing, doubtless, to the severe 

 winter and sparse vegetation of the former locality. The moose when 

 captured young is easily domesticated and grows quite tame and docile ; 

 but the restraints of civilization do not seem to agi-ee with him, and after a 

 fevv years' confinement he pines away and dies. In a park of sufiicient size, 

 well supplied with hardwood bush and swamp, and well watered, 

 doubtless the animal would thrive. In a state of domestication the 

 moose has been trained to harness, but does not like it, yet when it i>leases 

 him to stretch out into a trot he is exceedingly fleet. I have frequently 



