176 HUNTING CAMPS. 



rifle. The call is then given in the usual way, after which, 

 if a bull " comes in," the canoe approaches him within 

 twenty or thirty yards, or even nearer. The shooter then 

 opens the jack, letting out a stream of light upon the dark- 

 ness of the night. The moose at once, and almost invari- 

 ably, charges, and, be it big bull, cow, or yearling, has in 

 four cases out of five to be shot in self-defence, as the animal, 

 maddened by the glare, will rush right aboard the canoe, and 

 an upset in the eighteen-inch water which flows above the 

 bottomless mud round the margins of some Canadian lakes 

 is more than liable to end tragically. 



Yet, though " jacking " is undoubtedly a poacher's 

 trick, great sport can be had in summer when on chosen 

 water. At that time of the year the moose are, as is well 

 known, almost amphibious in their habits, and in the space 

 of a couple of hours it is possible to " open " upon half a 

 dozen of the great deer. If the sportsman carries no rifle 

 he is within the law, and may safely expect to have a con- 

 siderable amount of excitement. Lest I should be mis- 

 understood, I may say that I have never shot at a moose by 

 lantern-light ; still, I have " opened " on several, though I 

 should not care to do so without a companion at the stern 

 of the canoe who could be trusted to keep his head and do 

 the right thing instantly under sometimes trying circum- 

 stances. The view of a bull moose by lantern -light is 

 remarkable. The horns, the gigantic Roman nose, the little 

 infuriated eyes, and the whole unwieldy, purposeful charge 

 of 1,200 Ibs. of flesh and bone and horn, form together a 

 picture not easily forgotten at least, that is the testimony 

 of all such as have seen the spectacle. 



But to return to our camp of regrets. After wasting 

 some hours in useless heart-burnings, Ed and I went to 

 our beds of balsam boughs, and the episode of my first 

 meeting with a moose was closed. 



There is a certain period of variable length sometimes 



