CHAPTER IX. 



EVENING ON THE ATHABASCA PIERRE'S REFLECTIONS CAMP THE MOOSE ITS 

 RANGE ITS NUMBERS NATURE OF ITS HABITAT ITS FOOD APPEARANCE OF 

 THE MOOSE ITS HABITS METHODS OF HUNTING THE MOOSE DANGEROUS 

 SPORT CUNNING OF THE MOOSE "CALLING" INTERLOCKED ANTLERS A 

 CHANGE OF WEATHER A HUT. 



IT was now evening, and the sun had already sunk 

 beyond the forest on the western bank of the Atha- 

 basca. The sky, however, was still aglow with the 

 reflected fires of the sunset, and a holy calm seemed 

 to have descended on the face of nature. Evening 

 breathed a peaceful spirit on the forest and on the 

 river. From the distance came the mournful notes of 

 water-fowl ; the cry of the shushuga from the marshes ; 

 or from the depths of the forest the fierce yell of the 

 lynx in pursuit of his prey. 



These sounds, however, occurring only at intervals, 

 failed to disturb the quiet of the scene. The stately 

 trees on either hand rose, silent and majestic, those 

 on the western bank silhouetted against the heavens, 

 their trunks standing gray and solemn in the gloom 

 thrown by the branches. Before and behind, to dis- 

 tant bends stretched the river, broad and unruffled by 



