74 PRAIRIE AND , FOREST. 



to the confines of civilization, they are of all game the 

 most difficult to approach, even to obtain sight of. 

 Their large heavy ears enable them to possess most 

 wonderful powers of hearing; and their olfactory 

 organs and sight are none the less acute, so that they 

 are able to distinguish the approach of an intruder 

 upon their demesne long before the sportsman is aware 

 of their presence. Thus, when hunting cariboo, I 

 have often come across the indentations caused by 

 their tread in the soft, bent moss of the swamp, and so 

 lately made that you might observe the pressed stems 

 reverting to their original position, still no sight of 

 the quarry could be obtained, although it was impossible 

 they could be more than a second or two in your advance. 

 However, the cariboo has a way of stealing off, gliding, 

 as it were, out of sight, which in so large an animal 

 appears impossible. To accomplish this they lower 

 their backs, push their heads far forward, with the 

 antlers laying close along the withers, while each foot 

 is raised and,- with very bended knee, placed far and 

 silentty in advance of the other. To observe this done, 

 the action is so slow and measured, that you cannot 

 help being astonished at the rapidity of progression that 

 results. The moose, also, will practise this ruse to 

 avoid observation ; but it is far from as great an adept 

 in it as the cariboo. In summer this animal almost 

 becomes aquatic in its life ; for, whether it result from 

 the pestering annoyance of the legions of mosquitoes 

 or black flies that constantly hover around them, or its 

 love for the refreshing influence of the bath, it appears 

 to spend day after day submerged, with little else than 

 its nose, eyes, and horns above water. At this season it 

 feeds but little during day ; but when the sun has set, and 



