74 PRAIRIE AND FOREST, 



have received their annual deep and pure white covering. 

 At this time the moose lives in comparative security, his 

 length of limb and tremendous power enabling him to defy 

 all pursuers. Enjoy well thy rest enjoy it, I say, for it is 

 but for a short season ; for when the sun again warms the 

 landscape, and a crust becomes formed through the thaw 

 by day and frost of night, powerful and noble though yon 

 be, you will require more than that superhuman power to 

 save you from the persevering Indian or venturous white 

 man. Poor creature ! your chance when pursued, after a 

 heavy crust is formed, is indeed small. I know no denizen 

 of the forest that, at any period of life, has the odds so fear- 

 fully against him. 



As may be imagined, then, the end of February and 

 March are the periods when the greatest havoc among 

 these animals takes place, and I regret to say that frequent- 

 ly the fiendish love of carnage alone seems to occupy the 

 mind of the pursuer. I have known instances I grieve 

 to say many when moose have been killed simply for the 

 sake of killing ; for, with the exception of one or two tid- 

 bits, the giant carcass has been left to satiate the appetite of 

 the wild beasts of the forest. If one who has been guilty 

 of such unjustifiable conduct should read this, let his con- 

 science reproach him for the past, and the sting of remorse 

 cause him to resolve never to be again an offender. 



The exact position of the scene which I am about to de- 

 scribe lies within the limits of the State of Maine, about 

 sixty miles north-east of Moose Head Lake. 



The days that had heralded the advent of March had 

 been extremely warm, the nights clear, with sharp frost ; 

 just such weather as would be pronounced first -class for 

 the collecting of sap to make maple-sugar. Two days' 

 journey had been required to bring us to the desired local- 

 ity; for we had both agreed that no search for moose 





