MY FIRST MOOSE 8LAHST. 255 



one of them down. The dogs had started a deer that had 

 taken to the water, on the other side of the island. 



"Look here!" said I; "gentlemen, this game is mine. I 

 claim him by right of discovery, and my right must not be 

 interfered with." 



"Very well," the Doctor answered, "we'll only take a 

 hand in his capture if he's likely to escape. So, go ahead." 



As we came within a few yards of the shore, and we could 

 see that the animal's hoofs touched the bottom, I aimed 

 carefully at his head, and fired. He made one desperate 

 lunge forward, and turned over on his side, dying with 

 scarcely a struggle, the ball having passed directly through 

 his brain. 



This was the first and only live moose I have ever seen. 

 He was not a large one, being, probably, a three-year-old, 

 but well-grown. We should have called him a monster, 

 had we not, before that time, seen in various museums the 

 stuffed skins of those a quarter or a third larger. He 

 would have weighed, as shot, probably between five and six 

 hundred pounds. He had made this solitary island his home, 

 as we ascertained by his spoor and other signs that we 

 found upon subsequent explorations. We saw his bed but 

 a few rods from where we landed, and from which our dogs 

 had aroused him, though they, in their excitement, had over- 

 run his scent, and dashed off after a deer. 



We had now accomplished one of the objects of our jour- 

 ney in this direction, and as the law we had imposed upon 

 ourselves had reached its limits, prohibiting our shooting 



