White Moose 



'OSSY BOYLE was essentially a gentleman. 

 He was soft-spoken, respectful to his equals (he 

 called no man his better), chivalrous to ladies, 

 and paid his bills. 



He was also a scholar; not that his book-lore was great, 

 but he was learned in the ways of the woods and the 

 animals therein, and could furnish much material for 

 books to be written about. Why he was called " Mossy " 

 it is hard to guess, since he was neither green nor soft. 

 If in addition to being a gentleman and a scholar he was 

 also a base prevaricator, then the existence of an albino 

 moose in the far northern corner of the great Lake 

 Rossignol watershed is a myth. If, on the other hand, 

 Mossy's stories are as honest as his general deportment 

 in life seems to be, a great white moose is roaming in the 

 barren land adjacent to the head- waters of the stream 

 known as the Shelburne River. This stream wanders 

 troutfully through a land of many lakes, wooded islands 

 and ledges, to empty itself at last in a lauwine of foam 

 in the south-west corner of Lake Rossignol, Nova Scotia. 

 It winds through a wild hilly country interspersed with 

 thickly wooded swamps and dry barrens, and furnishes 

 a secluded home and succulent fodder for the largest 

 known member of the deer family Alces macblis, or 

 moose. Upon showing Mossy the Latin name for moose, 

 he said he supposed it meant " matchless Aleck," and that 

 he " Shure was all that, and ' For a' that and a' that, a 

 moose's a moose for a' that !' ' Which is about as 



175 



