124 



*> 



THE PINE-TREE, OR 



severed the jngular vein, when he yielded to his fate. It was 

 nearly two hours from the commencement of our last encounter 

 before we dispatched him. Leaving him for the night, we re- 

 turned to camp, quite overcome with hunger and fatigue. 



" Next morning we went out to bring in our prize. AYe found 

 the other moose afiectionately standing over the dead carcass of 

 her slaughtered companion. Manifesting much reluctance to flee, 

 she permitted our approach sufficiently near to afford a good shot, 

 which we were not unwilling to improve ; so, raising the fatal 

 instrument to my cheek, I let go. She fell on the spot, and was 

 soon dressed with the other. We took the carcasses into camp, 

 and, after reserving what we wished for our own use, sent the 

 remainder down river to our friends."* 



The "bull moose" is a formidable foe when he "gets his dan- 

 der up," and specially so at particular seasons of the year ; then, 

 unprovoked, they will make war on man, betraying none of that 

 shrinking timidity so characteristic of the cervine gouts. A 

 hunter, who used to put up occasionally over night at our camp, 

 entertained us with the following singular adventure. " Once," 

 said he, " v/hile out on a hunting excursion, I was pursued by a 

 'bull moose,' during that period when their jealousy was in full 

 operation in behalf of the female. He approached me with his 

 muscular neck curved, and head to the ground, in a manner not 

 dissimilar to the attitude assumed by horned cattle when about 

 to encounter each other. Just as he was about to make a pass 

 at me, I sprang suddenly between his wide-spreading antlers, be- 

 stride his neck. Dexterously turning round, I seized him by the 

 horns, and, locking my feet together under his neck, I clung to 

 him like a sloth. With a mixture of rage and terror, he dashed 

 wildly about, endeavoring to dislodge me ; but, as my life de- 

 pended upon maintaining my position, I clung to him with a coi*- 

 responding desperation. After making a few ineffectual attempts 

 * The advoutiircs of a mess-mate. 



