IN THE FAR WEST. 223 



very good, and is much like the tail of the beaver in flavour. 

 Many persons consider this the best part, and are extravagant 

 in its praise, but I would always prefer a good sirloin off a 

 two-year-old cow in good condition. 



The moose of the North-west, unlike their congeners in the 

 eastern portion of the United States and Canada, do not 

 yard, as a rule, but travel in pairs, or at most four or six 

 together. They are more abundant, however, and less cautious, 

 owing to their immunity from the rifles of skin-hunters ; hence 

 a good shot ought to be able to make a good bag in the 

 wooded mountainous regions of Idaho, Montana, Manitoba, 

 British Columbia, and Alaska. They are very common on 

 the Yukon River in the latter Territory, and are useful to 

 the Indians, as their bones supply them with arrows, needles, 

 spear-points, and knives; their skins are used for clothing and 

 for making wigwams ; and the flesh is eaten fresh, or made 

 into pemmican. 



The western species is larger than the eastern, I fancy ; at 

 least I have seen some there that in height, and in the 

 width, length, and massiveness of their antlers, excelled any 

 of their kindred I saw in the forests of Maine or Canada. One 

 of the largest pair probably ever brought to London had the 

 following dimensions : outside measure of horns, sixty-two 

 inches; across the blade, points not included, twenty inches; 

 circumference above burr, seven and a quarter inches; length 

 of the blade, thirty-nine inches. 



To hunt moose successfully requires the display of the 

 highest qualities of an Indian Nimrod ; for cautiousness, 

 patience, perseverance, endurance, acuteness of vision, and a 

 knowledge of woodcraft and the habits of animals, are far 

 more requisite than bravery and expertness with the rifle. 

 Whoever, therefore, is a good moose-stalker may claim to have 

 reached the highest pinnacle of the venatic art, and may 

 safely compete with any man as a forest-hunter. 



