2o6 BIG GAME SHOOT I KG IN ALASKA chap. 



have done this, and at the same time made an intelHgent 

 study of the animals ! One such 1 know, and he is my friend 

 Mr. A. S. Reed, who has already been mentioned in these 

 pages. Many years spent in the forests of North America, 

 living as he did alone with the natives in their huts or tents, 

 entirely cut off from civilisation, surrounded by various kinds 

 of big game, he has accumulated a store of valuable informa- 

 tion on the habits and wild life of the game which it is 

 granted to but few white men to acquire. I would that I 

 had his stock of knowledge to draw upon, and then indeed 

 there might be some notes on the habits of moose which 

 would be worthy of the reader's attention when glancing at 

 these pages. 



My first day in the moose country gave promise of 

 better things than subsequently followed. Taking Pitka to 

 instruct me in the approved style of Alaskan moose-hunting, 

 I set out, and worked my way through the timber for a con- 

 siderable distance. Innumerable recently used beds, fresh 

 tracks, and droppings of moose covered the ground. Finally 

 we reached a high point on the very edge of the timber line, 

 beyond which lay a large open tundra stretching far away to 

 the foothills of the sheep country whence we had come. 

 Below us lay a deep valley thickly timbered, with here and 

 there an open glade. At some distance away on the open 

 tundra a large brown bear was busily eating the blue berries 

 which covered the ground in masses. Having no intention 

 of going after this beast, I was not watching him so closely 

 as Pitka. On glancing at the valley below, I saw some 

 300 feet beneath us a single moose standing in an open 

 space. Turning the glasses on the spot, I found it was a cow. 

 Shortly afterwards we made out two more cows, each with a 

 calf, and one young bull carrying a small head. Here was 



