THE MOOSE. — HABITAT. 71 



and skins ; therefore, I am vastly more indebted to the trust- 

 worthy observations of others, than to my own original observa- 

 tions. Fortunately the Moose has been treated of by several 

 naturalists of great ability ; each of whom has added something 

 to the general stock of knowledge, to which I may be able to 

 make but slight additions. That there is much yet to learn, may 

 not be questioned, and I much regret the want of ojiportunities 

 for studying this animal under domestication, for in this way 

 alone, do I deem it possible to attain anything like a thorough 

 knowledge of any member of this interesting family of ruminants. 

 I hope it may be my good fortune to do this at some future time, 

 but if I should not, then I trust some other person, better quali- 

 fied to observe facts and to draw correct conclusions through care- 

 ful and patient observations, will feel sufficient interest in the 

 subject to incur the expense and take the time to make proper 

 investigations, and in the interests of science to make them 

 known. 



HABITAT. 



The habitat of this, the grandest of our native ruminants, with 

 perhaps one exception, originally extended from about forty- 

 three to seventy degrees north latitude, occupying the entire 

 breadth of the continent. He was seen as far south as the Ohio 

 River, and has been met with as far north as the mouth of 

 Mackenzie River ; though I think they should be regarded as 

 having been visitors rather- than settled residents in both these 

 localities. In portions of the territory which I have assigned 

 them he was rarely if ever found, because of the absence of the 

 conditions required by his habits ; but wherever these conditions 

 did exist, he occupied the country in numbers proportioned to 

 the favorable character of them. Everywhere these conditions 

 have been impaired, and in places destroyed, by the presence of 

 the white man ; and in proportion as this has obtained has he 

 disappeared altogether, or greatly diminished in number. Indeed, 

 this may be said of most of our wild animals. They could stand 

 the Indians, and could multiply and prosper in their presence. 

 The rude weapons of the natives seemed not to have any abiding 

 or fatal terror for the Moose, while the weapons and modes of de- 

 struction adopted by the white man have either destroyed them, 

 or driven them to the most secluded places attainable. When 

 Hennepin and Lasalle first visited Illinois, two hundred years 

 ago, the bison abounded in prodigious numbers, although the 



