Moose -Hunting in Canada. 195 



listening with every fiber of its intensely accurate ear to detect any 

 sound that may reveal the true nature of the animal he is approach- 

 ing. The smallest hoarseness, the slightest wrong vibration, the 

 least unnatural sound, will then prove fatal. The Indian will kneel on 

 the ground, putting the broad end of the horn close to the earth, so 

 as to deaden the sound, and, with an agonized expression of coun- 

 tenance, will imitate with such marvelous fidelity the wailing, anxious, 

 supplicating cry of the cow, that the bull, unable to resist, rushes out 

 from the friendly cover of the trees, and exposes himself to death. 

 Or it may be that the most accomplished caller fails to induce the sus- 

 picious animal to show himself; the more ignoble passion of jealousy 

 must then be aroused. The Indian will grunt like an enraged bull, 

 break dead branches from the trees, thrash his birch-bark horn against 

 the bushes, thus making a noise exactly like a moose fighting the 

 bushes with his antlers. The bull cannot bear the idea of a rival, 

 and, casting his prudence to the winds, not unfrequently falls a victim 

 to jealousy and rage. 



The hunter calls through his horn, first gently, in case there 

 should be a bull very near. He then waits a quarter of an hour or 

 so, and, if he gets no answer, calls again a little louder, waiting at 

 least a quarter of an hour-^or half an hour some Indians say is best 

 — after each attempt. 



The cry of the cow is a long-drawn-out melancholy sound, im- 

 possible to describe by words. The answer of the bull-moose, on 

 the contrary, is a rather short guttural grunt, and resembles at a 

 great distance the sound made by an ax chopping wood, or that 

 which a man makes when pulling hard at a refractory clay-pipe. 

 You continue calling at intervals until you hear an answer, when 

 your tactics depend upon the way in which the animal acts. Great 

 acuteness of the sense of hearing is necessary, because the bull will 

 occasionally come up without answering at all ; and the first indica- 

 tion of his presence consists of the slight noise he makes in advanc- 

 ing. Sometimes a bull will come up with the most extreme caution ; 

 at others, he will come tearing up through the woods, as hard as he 

 can go, making a noise like a steam-engine, and rushing through 

 the forest apparently without the slightest fear. 



On the particular occasion which I am recalling, it was a most 

 lovely evening. It wanted but about half an hour to sundown, and 



