MOOSE DEER. 97 



ridges, clothed to their summits with giant pine trees 

 and the many varieties of hard woods peculiar to 

 these latitudes, alike giving beauty to the landscape 

 and affording food and shelter for every kind of 

 Northern game. On the extensive flat meadows that 

 edge these lakes or form the margin of many of the 

 numerous noble rivers, in the hollows, ravines and 

 hill-sides, will the moose deer's home be found, his 

 choice of quarters being regulated by the changes of 

 the seasons. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia also 

 are favourite resorts of this giant deer. In these 

 provinces he still remains numerous ; but in northern 

 New Hampshire, Vermont, and north-eastern New 

 York State, where, a quarter of a century since, moose 

 were plentiful, I doubt if at the present date a single 

 specimen can be found. Such is the result of civilisa- 

 tion and the influx of the white man. 



The size to which the moose deer grows has been 

 variously stated. Audubon says over twenty hands ; Mr. 

 Hays, an animal artist of great talent, and who has spent 

 many years studying his profession in the native haunts 

 of all the subjects he has used his brush upon, informs 

 me that he has known animals to grow much larger. 

 From this gentleman's experience as a hunter and 

 naturalist, I have not the slightest doubt that he is 

 correct. However, I believe about sixteen and a half 



H 



