XV 

 MOOSE HUNTING IN NOVA SCOTIA 



HALIFAX, the capital of Nova Scotia, is one of the few colonial 

 towns which combine most of the amenities of civilized 

 life with the great charm of being within easy reach of cock cover, 

 snipe marsh, salmon stream, or the primeval forest haunts of the 

 moose, caribou, and black bear. Owing to the countless streams 

 and lake basins which stretch in chains across the interior of this 

 province, the most desirable hunting grounds can be readily reached 

 by boat or canoe. The unrivalled climate of the autumn season 

 adds immensely to the pleasures of camping out in the wilds. One 

 soon becomes familiar with the little tricks of backwoods life neces- 

 sary to secure comfort, and at times capable even of making luxury 

 obtainable. In every tumbling brook there are fish waiting to hop 

 into the frying-pan. The bush is fairly alive with juicy young 

 ' partridges ' (ruffed grouse), while on every hand there is abundance 

 of dry firewood for the gathering. One should choose for guides 

 professional hunters or trappers, or, failing them, native Indians, of 

 whom a few families still remain on the fringes of many of the frontier 

 settlements. Such men are able to deprive ' roughing it in the 

 bush ' of all its terrors. 



No device for wooing sleep could excel the regulation forest 

 bed of fragrant fir-boughs, into which tired limbs sink grate- 

 fully. No kitchen can look half so cheery as the row of pothooks 

 hung over the ruddy glow of sparkling birch logs, especially when 

 the air is fragrant with ' the something hot ' preparing for the usual 

 toast, ' Here's luck to-morrow ', that winds up the camp-fire yarns. 

 In such a sylvan home the hunter can enjoy unalloyed, in one of 

 the most perfect outdoor autumn climates of the world, the charm 

 of absolutely wild surroundings ; can admire the changing moods of 

 the primeval wilderness, by turns inspiriting, grandly beautiful, 

 majestic, solemn, sad ; can observe the pageant of forest and river 

 life daily arid nightly unfolded around him ; can find exciting hours 

 in the pursuit of bear, caribou, or the giant moose. Days of toil 

 in hunting big game are sure to be frequently rewarded by gratifying 

 success. How the pulse is stirred on a bright October morning as 

 the prow of the yellow canoe cuts the gently resisting current, rifles 



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