236 f;;ank forester's field hipoRTs. 



wlinop !" speeds onward, almost maddened by the emulation 

 and excitement, leavino; to the laggers, who increase their pace 

 at tlie rifle crack and death haHoo ! the care of breaking- up and 

 gralloching the mighty carcase. 



This is the mode of Moose hunting, whether you find liim in 

 his yard, or start him from it unawares ; or yet again, if you 

 find tlie trail of his deeply-dinted f(jot, where he has wandered 

 at his own will through the wilderness. 



It is a sport for men, not to be assayed of babes or sucklings, 

 and only to be enjoyed — without the aid of Indians or back- 

 woodsmen — by the accomplished and experienced forester, 

 who, with no provision but his rifle, axe, and knife, his tinder- 

 box, his biscuits, and his salt, will fatten on the luxuries of the 

 land, where the spruce city sportsman would unquestionably 

 starve. Assisted, however, by Indians, or old hunters, any man, 

 possessed of stout thews and sinews, long-winded, and accus- 

 tomed to field exercise, may embark on such an expedition as T 

 have described, with the certainty, or something very like it, of 

 enjoying glorious sports, and great fun beside. No particular 

 fitness, or unusual powers are required, as is evident from the 

 fact I have recorded above, of the great sport which fell to the 

 lot of twenty-three officers of the Guards — for it is well known 

 that the officers of that splendid corps are the flower of the Eng- 

 lish gentry, who live high, and sleep soft, and certainly are in no 

 wise habituated to the hardships of a life in the woods — though, 

 be it remembered, en passant, when need is to rough it, no man 

 roughs it better or more uncomplainingly, than your thorough- 

 bred English gentleman, — it is your cockney, who first gives 

 himself airs, and everybody else trouble, and then gives — out ! 

 Vcrhiim sap. 



For the rest, no particular instructions are needed, nor can be 

 given for this sport. The best place to aim at, when a fair shot 

 presents itself on a Moose — or indeed on any animal — is the arch 

 of the ribs, immediately behind the fore-shoulder, that is to say, 

 at about two-thirds of the depth from the withers downward. 

 If you are compelled to take the head, directly between the 



