234 "^HE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



came down in points and isolated clumps to 

 the brook, the banks of which were thus bor- 

 dered with open glades, rendering the travel- 

 ling easy and rapid. 



Soon after starting up this valley we entered 

 a beaver meadow of considerable size. It 

 was covered with lush, rank grass, and the 

 stream wound through it rather sluggishly in 

 long curves, which were fringed by a thick 

 growth of dwarfed willows. In one or two 

 places it broadened into small ponds, bearing 

 a few lily-pads. This meadow had been all 

 tramped up by moose. Trails led hither and 

 thither through the grass, the willow twigs 

 were cropped off, and the muddy banks of the 

 little black ponds were indented by hoof- 

 marks. Evidently most of the lilies had been 

 plucked. The footprints were unmistakable; 

 a moose's foot is longer and slimmer than a 

 caribou's, while on the other hand it is much 

 larger than an elk's, and a longer oval in 

 shape. 



Most of the sign was old, this high alpine 

 meadow, surrounded by snow mountains, hav- 

 ing clearly been a favorite resort for moose 

 in the summer; but some enormous, fresh 

 tracks told that one or. more old bulls were 

 still frequenting the place. 



The' light was already fading, and, of course, 

 we did not wish to camp where we were, be- 

 cause we would then certainly scare the moose. 

 Accordingly we pushed up the valley for 

 another mile, through an open forest, the 

 ground being quite free from underbrush and 

 dead timber, and covered with a carpet of 

 thick moss, in which the feet sank noise* 



