GRAND RAPIDS n 



hope that he was too seriously wounded to escape, I started 

 after ammunition which, of course, I should have had with me. 

 At last he slowly started, hobbling painfully upon three legs. 

 I followed him for two miles and succeeded in turning him 

 twice, but never near the camp; at last he entered an abomi- 

 nable jungle of fallen trees, where I had to abandon pursuit in 

 the growing darkness as he was every moment increasing his 

 pace. We were unable next day, in such a maze of tracks, to 

 follow his trail, and a fine specimen was thus lost to science 

 through my poor shooting. I was somewhat chagrined, as I 

 had rather prided myself on my success of the preceding week. 

 The peculiar behavior of the animal seemed to me to be worthy 

 of record. Though I lost the moose the experience has been 

 of value. 1 



Louis came in later and reported having seen four red deer 

 during the afternoon. We had stumbled upon our game with- 

 out the aid of Indian hunters, there was some comfort in that, 

 but to let it escape so easily marked us as " nesoo mo-ni-as-uk" 

 — two greenhorns — of the most verdant type. 



We remained a few days longer in camp, unable to continue 

 the hunt owing to the calm weather. His scent is so keen, that 

 it is practically impossible to approach a moose in the muskeg 

 unless there is a wind blowing. During the nights (clear and 

 frosty) the moose sometimes came within a hundred yards of 

 our tent, where we could hear them tramping about. I sug- 

 gested fire-hunting to my companions, who declared that they 

 would immediately leave the neighborhood, if we attempted it, 

 and that the Indians never resorted to this method of hunting. 

 I very much regret that we did not try it as the day fixed for 

 our return arrived before the weather permitted us to reenter 

 the muskeg. On the nth of October we were favored with a 

 southeast wind which, however, came too late to be of further 

 service than to drive our canoe under blanket sail toward the 

 post. The fresh breeze raised a sea, over which our little birch 

 canoe rode lightly and safely, though we had to turn it to 

 meet the curling crests of the largest waves. Twelve miles 



1 Upon my return to the post I learned that moose-skins with a dozen 

 bullet holes in them were sometimes traded at the store. I heard of na- 

 tives who after firing ten or twelve shots at a moose without effect had then 

 thrown down their guns and climbed a tree, fully convinced that they had 

 been shooting at the devil ! 



