220 BLACK ELK. 



landscape, on which the eye could rest as the work 

 of human hands. 



Turning from the grand and terrible in nature to 

 consider the formation of a creature which seems so 

 entirely in unison with them, we are struck with 

 the peculiar swelling out, and projection of the 

 nostrils, which are divided by a long slit,* by the 

 largeness of the ears, together with the shortness of 

 the neck, and the disproportionate height of the legs. 

 This mode of structure, so different from that of the 

 llama and vicugna, the bison or the marmot, has no 

 doubt a peculiar reference to the kind of life for 

 which the moose-deer is designed. The largeness 

 of his ears, and the facility with w r hich he turns 

 them, enables him readily to discover even the 

 noiseless tread of hostile feet, and hence it is that 

 even during the most furious storms, when wind and 

 thunder and the crash of uprooting trees are 

 mingled in one tremendous roar, it is impossible to 

 come upon the moose-deer unperceived. If an In- 

 dian steals through the forest, unheard as he ima- 

 gines amid the fury of the tempest, if either his foot 

 or hand breaks the smallest twig, in a moment, the 

 creature lifts up his head, and listens, and if he does 

 not immediately cease eating, he is evidently alert, 

 and ready to bound off. And even if the Indian 

 hunter, aware of this peculiarity, neither moves nor 

 makes the slightest sound for a considerable time, 

 in order that the animal may forget to listen, still 

 he does not feel secure, but continues to turn his 

 head, and to look towards the part of the forest from 

 whence the sound proceeded, and he is for many 

 hours more vigilant than before. The swelling 



