MOOSE-CALLING. 115 



lowest parts of liis throat, checked in the middle, then 

 again resumed, and its prolonged cadences allowed gra- 

 dually to die away. It was a masterly performance ; and 

 our pulses beat high as the echoes returned from the 

 sides of the thick forest which skirted the barren, and we 

 listened for some reply from the moose. 



Then followed a prolonged crashing, as if a whole 

 army of giants was forcing its way through the brittle 

 rampikes ; it seemed impossible that a moose could have 

 caused such a tremendous uproar — then a pause, and the 

 moose answered the call — Quoh ! quofh ! He was 

 evidently close at hand, though still concealed by the 

 closeness of the covert ; and we were, moreover, lying 

 crouched as flatly as possible on the ground, and behind 

 a little rise in the barren, which intervened most conve- 

 niently. Here he remained for some moments, occasion- 

 ally drawing his antlers with great rapidity and violence 

 against the dead stems on either side, and making the 

 brittle branches fly in all directions ; then another ad- 

 vance, though with less noise, and his grunts became less 

 frequent ; at last, a dead stop, and not a sound for some 

 moments. He was evidently becoming suspicious, not 

 seeing the object of his desire on the barren before him 

 where he had expected, for moose have a wonderful 

 faculty of travelling through the woods towards a sound 

 if only once heard. I have known them to come for 

 miles, and straight as an arrow, to the exact spot where 

 the Indian had been calling an hour or more previously, 

 having left it in consequence of not hearing the answer. 



There was a slight rustle just behind us, and, looking 

 round, I perceived the Indian rapidly worming his way 

 through the bushes, gliding like a snake. He beckoned 



I 2 



