The Moose 265 



strong enough to bear a man wearing snowshoes 

 without breaking. The chase then involves the most 

 exhausting fatigue. Moreover, it can be carried 

 on only by those who are very skilful in the use of 

 snowshoes. These snowshoes are of two kinds. In 

 the Northeast, and in the most tangled forests of 

 the Northwest, the webbed snowshoes are used; on 

 the bare mountain-sides, and in the open forests 

 of the Rockies, the long narrow wooden skees, or 

 Norwegian snowskates, are preferred, as upon them 

 men can travel much faster, though they are less 

 handy in thick timber. Having donned his snow- 

 shoes and struck the trail of a moose, the hunter 

 may have to follow it three days if the snow 

 is of only ordinary depth, with a moderate crust. 

 He shuffles across the snow without halt while day- 

 light lasts, and lies down wherever he happens to 

 be when night strikes him, probably with a little 

 frozen bread as his only food. The hunter thus 

 goes through inordinate labor, and suffers from ex- 

 posure ; not infrequently his feet are terribly cut by 

 the thongs of the snowshoes, and become sore and 

 swollen, causing great pain. When overtaken after 

 such a severe chase, the moose is usually so ex- 

 hausted as to be unable to make any resistance; in 

 all likelihood it has run itself to a standstill. Ac- 

 cordingly, the quality of the firearms makes but 

 little difference in this kind of hunting. Many of 

 the most famous old moose-hunters of Maine, in 



12 VOL. II. 



