THE ELK, OR MOOSE. 627 



cause the arsenical soap with which the skins are preserved does 

 not extend its poisonous influence to the feathers. I have known 

 whole cases of birds to be destroyed by the moth, all the feathers 

 being eaten, and nothing left but the bare skins. 



Even the most deadly poison, corrosive sublimate, is not effect- 

 ual, unless it settles on every feather. There is now before me a 

 stuffed golden-eye duck, preserved by myself, the close plumage 

 of which has partially thrown off the poisoned solution, and has 

 consequently admitted the moth in small patches of feathers, es- 

 pecially about the neck. There is also in my collection a Kaffir 

 shield, made of an ox-hide, which has been washed with the so- 

 lution, and is almost entirely secure from the depredations of the 

 moth. Yet there are one or two spots where a thong has pro- 

 tected the hair, and in those very spots the pertinacious moths 

 have laid their eggs, and, in one or two instances, the caterpillars 

 have succeeded in attaining their perfect state. 



If the reader will refer to the large illustration, he will see a 

 representation of that curious temporary habitation which is pop- 

 ularly termed an Elk-yard. 



The Elk, or Moose (Alces malehis), inhabits the northern parts 

 of America and Europe, and is consequently an animal which is 

 formed to endure severe cold. Although a very large and pow- 

 erful animal, measuring semetimes seven feet in height at the 

 shoulders— a height which is very little less than that of an aver- 

 age elephant — it has many foes, and is much persecuted both by 

 man and beast. During the summer time it is tolerably safe, but 

 in the winter it is beset by many perils. 



In its native country the snow falls so thickly that the inhab- 

 itants of a more temperate climate can hardly imagine the result 

 of a heavy storm. The face of the earth is wholly changed— 

 well-known pits and declivities have vanished — white hills stand 

 where was formerly a level plain— tier upon tier of mimic fortifi- 

 cations rise above each other, the walls being scarped and cut by 

 the wind in weird resemblance of human architecture. 



During the sharp frosts the Elk runs but little risk, because it 

 can traverse the hard, frozen surface of the snow with considera- 

 ble speed, although with a strange, awkward gait. Its usual pace 

 is a swinging trot ; but so light is its action, and so long are its 

 legs, that it quietly trots over obstacles which a horse could not 

 easily leap, because the frozen surface of the snow, although com- 



