PLATEAU MOUNTAIN 137 



place, and returned to camp. Louis was on the bank 

 repairing Selous' canoe an old one which had kept leak- 

 ing all the afternoon when he ran to the shelter, saying 

 that he heard a bull moose approaching. Taking a horn 

 and beckoning to me to follow, he quickly walked along 

 the bar, with Selous and myself trailing close behind him. 

 We stepped into the thick brush and paused to listen. 

 Yes, the well-known grunt of a bull moose was clearly 

 audible not more than three or four hundred yards away, 

 and sounding an approach in our direction. We crept 

 forward as silently as possible, stopping as the bull, paus- 

 ing to listen, ceased grunting, and going forward again 

 when he resumed. 



Intercepting the line of the bull's approach, and reach- 

 ing a spot where the brush ahead was less dense, we 

 stooped close behind a log, and Louis, after giving a low 

 call, rubbed the horn up and down on the willow brush, 

 thus producing a noise similar to that made by a moose 

 rubbing his horns. Directly toward us came the eager 

 grunting, ceasing now and then as the bull stopped to 

 listen, until at last it sounded very close. Not a stick 

 cracked, nor was there the slightest noise from horns 

 striking the trees and brush, or from footsteps. It was 

 almost dark, and except for some faint light in the small 

 open space in front, the thicket appeared perfectly black. 

 How was it possible for that large, bulky animal to con- 

 tinue his mysterious approach so swiftly and silently on 

 swampy ground, through a dense thicket of tangled 

 brush and fallen logs, without making an audible sound 

 except that of grunting ? As it sounded almost upon us, 



