The Journal of a Sporting Nomad 
On the following day Hunter and I again 
went in the direction where I had killed the two 
moose yesterday. I should not have attempted 
to kill another, unless I had happened upon a 
head that was distinctly better than the best I 
had, but I still wanted a whole skin and head 
for the museum at Victoria. This we were lucky 
enough to obtain that morning. The head was 
not quite so large, but was perfectly symmetrical 
in shape, and answered splendidly for the pur- 
pose to which I wished to put it. The skinning 
out of the whole of this carcass was a tremendous 
undertaking. I left the leg-bones of all the four 
legs up to the knees and hocks attached to the 
skin. Now, a green moose hide weighs a tre- 
mendous lot, and it puzzled us how to get it 
out of the country, for it must have scaled 
close on two hundred pounds. I know that I 
tried to lift it, and could only just manage to do 
so by exerting all my strength. Elia, when ap- 
pealed to, solved the difficulty by offering to 
carry it out himself. I did not think this pos- 
sible, but I did not know my Indian, nor what 
he was capable of doing. I promised him five ~ 
dollars and a pair of new blankets if he suc- 
ceeded in getting it so far as the lake, and he 
smiled as much as to say, “‘ Money and blankets 
are already mine.” 
We had jerked (more or less dried) about one 
hundred pounds of splendid moose beef, which, 
272 
