252 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



The old cow and calf were fit companions for this 

 monarch of the woods, and the three composed as 

 magnificent a group of the finest game animals in the 

 world as could be found in years of hunting. 



Much has been said and written about the pleasure 

 of hunting the buffalo, and that animal has been 

 looked upon by the average lover of sport as the em- 

 bodiment of perfection in the way of game. He has 

 always been considered the king of the plains, and 

 to hunt him has been the ambition of kings. His 

 decadence has been mourned as the passing of an 

 era in the history of the sporting world. While it is 

 true that the bison, when he roamed the prairies 

 in the countless numbers recorded by Lewis and 

 Clarke in their " Explorations," afforded much excite- 

 ment to the lovers of the chase, yet the fact re- 

 mains that he had none of the characteristics which 

 belong to the true game animal. The stupid beasts 

 would stand in droves while the pot-hunter crawled 

 up and shot down hundreds from a place of conceal- 

 ment. He was an easy victim of the red men with 

 their simple weapons of the pre-Caucasian times and 

 was the great food-supply for the natives. The body 

 of the bison is large and affords food for many, while 

 his robe gives warm covering, but he was never, in 

 any sense of the word, a game animal. 



But how is it with the moose, the giant of the 

 swamps? Here, indeed, is the greatest of ah 1 the 

 game animals of the North American continent. He 

 is a monarch of the forests, and in addition to his 

 size he has sufficient speed and cunning to outwit the 

 wariest hunter, while his courage is equal to a defence 



