TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 295 



also the evening, as they fed before nightfall. Of 

 course, in such dense forest it is very hard to determine 

 how best to avoid giving a moose the scent which is 

 at once his dread and, often, his deliverance. On 

 straight ground the wind blows evenly, but in forested 

 glades, up hills and down dales, the breeze circles, 

 eddies, and varies ten times in an hour. We likewise 

 found it difficult to judge distances, but fortunately 

 we usually overestimated this. The great hollows 

 and depths of the dingles and grassy expanses ac- 

 counted, in part, for the many strange errors of judg- 

 ment made in some of our stalks. We all came to 

 the conclusion that stiff-handed shooting was useless 

 with these rushing giants, and found that to aim well 

 in front of the quarry, following the beast with the 

 rifle, at his own pace, in the lightning dash a moose 

 almost invariably made as he sighted us, gave the best 

 results. 



We changed our camps in the moose country often, 

 for the sake of novelty, but they varied little. Each 

 one had some points of beauty, some unusual charms. 

 Our last was pitched facing east, and situated just at 

 the junction of two small streams, tributaries to the 

 Sushitna, which flowed onwards into a lagoon of 

 sufficient size as to allow its being dignified by the 

 name of lake. On the north and south high alders 

 formed a screen from the treacherous winds, which at 

 times conspired to transform this paradise into an 

 Inferno. Looking at the peaceful unruffled waters, 

 scarcely shimmering beneath the evening breeze, it 

 seemed hard to picture what it would be like in early 



