THE CHASE. 351 



ficult. Then it is, that he may be met with, rashly roaming- 

 through the forest hunting for a mate, at the same time seeking 

 combats with his own species and sex. After he has found the 

 mate he desires, and they have retired to the secluded place se- 

 lected for their home where they are to pass the honey moon — 

 I have already stated that they are monogamic — they give up 

 this roving habit and remain quietly at home, till the season is 

 passed, unless disturbed by the hunter or the male is divorced 

 and expelled by some powerful rival. When his domestic rela- 

 tions are thus broken up he again starts on his travels more mad- 

 dened and fierce than before, and although he may be an ugly 

 brute to meet and provoke, the lack of his customary caution 

 makes him fall a more easy prey to the cautious hunter. 



Two modes of hunting the Moose at this season are chiefly re- 

 lied upon, and in both of these the skill of the Indian is quite 

 indispensable. The first is the still hunt, in which the track of 

 the animal is followed over the most difficult ground in profound 

 silence and with the greatest caution, till the game is seen be- 

 fore he suspects the presence of his pursuer, and is then ap- 

 proaciied with still greater labor and care, till within rifle range, 

 or is discovered in his secluded lair, and is crept upon by the 

 cautious liunter, till he can be reached by the leaden missile 

 which is to crown the hopes of the hunter and reward him for 

 all his pains. The other is the call, in which the Indian imitates 

 the voice of the Moose either male or female in all its variations, 

 and by this means induces the deluded animal to approach the 

 concealed hunter, till he comes within shooting distance. The 

 former must be pursued in the day-time, while the night or par- 

 tial darkness are generally deemed necessary to insure success in 

 the other. Long experience and a close habit of observation 

 alone can qualify one to detect the foot-prints of the animal pur- 

 sued, over the barren rocks or the yielding and elastic moss, 

 where the unpracticed eye can detect no sign that the animal has 

 ever been there ; and an intimate knowledge of the habits of 

 the animal is necessarj^ to determine the course he has taken 

 when the track is finally lost, and to determine the places 

 where he would be most likely to stop to feed and rest, or the 

 covert where he would be most likely to take up his abode dur- 

 ing the conjugal relation. The call can only be successfully re- 

 sorted to by those who after infinite practice are enabled at will 

 to imitate to perfection all the notes uttered by the Moose of both 

 sexes, and all ages, and under all circumstances, from the feeble 



