A TASTE OF MAINE BIRCH. 57 



was to go out in his canoe and conceal himself by 

 some point or island, and wait till he heard the game. 

 In the fail the moose comes into the water to eat the 

 large fibrous roots of the pond - lilies. He splashes 

 along till he finds a suitable spot, when he begins feed* 

 mg, sometimes thrusting his head and neck several 

 feet under water. The hunter listens, and when the 

 moose lifts his head and the rills of water run from 

 it, and he hears him " swash " the lily roots about to 

 get off the mud, it is his time to start. Silently as a 

 shadow he creeps up on the moose, who by the way, 

 it seems, never expects the approach of danger from 

 the water side. If the hunter accidentally makes {^ 

 noise the moose looks toward the shore for it. Ther'* 

 is always a slight gleam on the water. Uncle Natha:i 

 says, even in the darkest night, and the dusky forpi 

 of the moose can be distinctly seen upon it. When 

 the hunter sees this darker shadow he lifts his gun to 

 the sky and gets the range of its barrels, then lowers 

 it till it covers the mark, and fires. 



The largest moose Uncle Nathan ever killed is 

 mounted in the State House at Augusta. He shot 

 him while hunting in winter on snow-shoes. The 

 moose was reposing upon the ground, with his head 

 stretched out in front of him, as one may sometimes 

 see a cow resting. The position was such that only 

 a quartering shot through the animal's hip could reach 

 its heart. Studying the problem carefully, and taking 

 his own time, the hunter fired. The moose sprang 

 into the air, turned, and came with tremendous strides 

 straight toward him. " I knew he had not seen or 

 scented me," said Uncle Nathan, " but, by hemp, I 

 wished myself somewhere else just then ; for I was 

 lying right down in his path." But the noble animal 



