THE MOOSE, OR ELK. 83 



it. The intermaxillaries are very long, and the nasals short. 

 He differs from the European elk only by having much darker 

 hair, the coat of the male, when in its prime, at the close 

 of the summer, being completely black. Under the throat 

 the males have a fleshy appendage termed the bell, from 

 which grow long black hairs. The bristles on his thick 

 muzzle are of a lighter colour than those of the coat, being 

 somewhat of a reddish hue. The neck and shoulders are 

 covered with very fine soft wool, curiously interwoven with 

 the hair. Out of this the Indians manufacture soft, warm 

 gloves. The moose hair is very brittle and inelastic. It is 

 dyed by the Indians, and employed for ornamenting nume- 

 rous articles of birch bark. The moose is of cautious and 

 retiring habits, generally taking up his abode amid the mossy 

 swamps found round the margins of the lakes, and which 

 occupy the low ground in every direction. Here the cin- 

 namon fern grows luxuriantly, while a few swamp maple 

 saplings and mountain ash trees occur at intervals, and afford 

 sufficient food to the moose. 



It is to these regions the bull retires with his consort, and 

 remains for weeks together, claiming to be the monarch of the 

 swamp ; and should he hear the approach of a distant rival, 

 he will crash with his antlers against the tree stems, making 

 sudden mad rushes through the bushes, the sound of his blows 

 reverberating to a distance. He has also a curious custom of 

 tearing up the moss over a considerable area, exposing the 

 black mud by pawing with the fore-feet. He continually 

 visits these hills, and in consequence a strong musky effluvia 

 arises from them. The Indian hunter, by examining them, 

 can ascertain without fail when they were last visited by the 

 animal. He utters loud sounds both by day and night, 



