THE HORNS OF THE MOOSE. 6V 



Probably it may never again be my good fortune to re- 

 visit these scenes of my youth-; but can I ever forget the 

 happy days and nights I have spent hi the dense swamp, 

 sparsely covered, barren, tangled woodland, or over the 

 brilliant camp-fire, when, miles and miles away from civil- 

 ization, I have been on an expedition to hunt moose ? No ! 

 Though I have shot in all parts of the world, gone through 

 scenes exciting, both as soldier and hunter, Northern Maine, 

 with all its glorious lakes, rivers, and mountains, will stand 

 paramount : for there my experience of moose-hunting was 

 gained ; there I made my maiden effort, which was a fail- 

 ure, to return years afterward and awake the echoes with 

 the war-whoop that proclaims success. 



In December moose-deer cast their horns ; by April the 

 successors commence to sprout; by the end of June full 

 form is developed, but not till many weeks later are they 

 denuded of velvet ; when that takes place, the antlers are 

 perfectly white; but exposure to the atmosphere soon gives 

 them a tawny shade, which deepens with the lapse of time. 

 The cow, of course, never bears these ornaments, but the 

 young bull-calf at one year throws out a brace of knobs an 

 inch in length; in the second season these are about six 

 inches long; the third year they increase to nine or ten 

 inches, with a fork ; in the fourth season palmation is ex- 

 hibited with several points. From this age there is a grad- 

 ual increase in the palmation and number of points till the 

 animal attains its greatest vigor, from which period the 

 horns decrease in width and weight, at the same time be- 

 coming more elongated. Twenty-three is the greatest num- 

 ber of points I have seen on one head, and the weight of the 

 horns just exceeded seventy pounds. I doubt if larger has 

 ever, of late years, been found. 



The young moose-deer, that is, those under five years, 

 frequently do not show their new head-dress till March. 



