THE MOOSE-CALL. 243 



woods to keep him there another minute. They 

 reached the tent about midnight, chilled through. 



Several inches of fresh snow fell soon after, and 

 Dyche made a circuit through the country. He found 

 fresh moose-tracks and started after the animal, fol- 

 lowing the trail for about eight miles without seeing 

 the moose. Great holes had been pawed in the snow 

 and the trees and bushes showed marks where they had 

 been threshed with the horns of the bull. In several 

 places the moose had stopped to feed upon the tender 

 tops of willow bushes and the red osier or " killikinic. " 

 Sometimes the trail led straight through the centre of 

 these patches of willow and osier, but usually it skirted 

 them. The moose seemed to enjoy going through 

 the centre of the spruce and tamarack groves, where 

 there was plenty of water, which gave Dyche a pair 

 of very wet feet. 



One evening Dyche concluded to try calling alone. 

 Taking the birch-bark horn he went to the bank of 

 the river, about four miles from camp. The wind 

 went down with the sun, and just as the great yellow 

 disk disappeared the naturalist gave a muffled call. 

 No answer came and the call was repeated. Far off 

 in the tamarack swamp a sound was heard which 

 the hunter at first failed to recognise, although he 

 finally concluded that it was a moose. His supposition 

 was not amiss, for soon the animal was heard coming 

 directly towards his place of concealment. The moose 

 was on the opposite side of the river and at last he could 

 be heard in the bushes, threshing around with his im- 

 mense horns until one could almost imagine that a 

 dozen bulls were fighting in the forest. Dead limbs 



