TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 253 



as a lure to attract the bull by imitating the " Come 

 hither " call of the cow moose. In the New Bruns- 

 wick backwoods many gallant beasts are lured to 

 slaughter through answering this alien call of the 

 wild. The Mic-Macs, too, are past masters at it. 

 There are very few men in Alaska who make a suc- 

 cess out of moose calling at all, and the ones who are 

 adepts use, instead of the counterfeit mating cry, the 

 challenge of the bull. Both forms of "sport" are 

 very low down ways of procuring splendid heads, for 

 used successfully there is no difficulty in getting a 

 choice and to spare. To my mind this calling is the 

 antithesis of sport, since it is not argued, I suppose, 

 that there is any overwhelming difficulty in shooting 

 so large a bulk as a called-up moose, standing like a 

 target. If one is not allowed the pleasure, and the 

 interest, of still-hunting him, I would forgo the delight 

 of possessing the finest moose head in all the world 

 if it came to me by the mere luring of the noble 

 creature into my very presence by an artificial cry. 

 There is something rotten in the state of Denmark 

 here. 



I know that this system of calling is acceptedly in- 

 stalled, is held in honour among most sportsmen, 

 and who am I that I should judge; but I am proud 

 to say that what moose we got we worked hard for, 

 and they had their fighting chance. We certainly 

 were not tempted at first, for none of our Bering 

 Sea men could counterfeit the war challenge at all, 

 and attempts at imitating Mr. Moose on our parts, 

 with the idea of making observations, were much 



