348 THE DEER OF AMERICA. * 



weight, usually a log of wood, was attached. This was held 

 suspended high above the gi'ound by a trip, properly arranged, 

 which was to spring by the least strain from the loop of the 

 thong. Through this the Moose would unsuspectingly pass, till 

 his breast, or fore legs should touch the lower line of the noose, 

 when the trip would spring, the weight would drop, and the line 

 would be drawn tightly around the neck of the animal. The 

 attachment to the limb not being rigid, the animal could go some 

 distance by drawing the log up to the limb, but by the time this 

 was done, the animal would be nearly choked down, the drag of 

 the weight always maintaining the severe tension. A few 

 minutes rearing and struggling must always end in the death of 

 the animal. In this mode the Indians captured many moose, 

 elk, and other animals, before they obtained fire-arms ; and even 

 since, it has been sometimes resorted to with success. 



Whymper describes the mode practiced by the Indians in 

 Alaska, of pursuing the Moose in the summer time. He says : 

 " One was killed in the water by the knife of the Indian. The 

 natives do not always waste powder and shot over them, but get 

 near the moose, maneuvering round in their birch-bark canoes 

 till the animal is fatigued, and then stealthily approach and stab 

 it in the heart or loins." ^ 



All agree that they take to the water readily, and are good 

 swimmers, though they swim higher than the common deer. In 

 the summer they are usually hunted about the lakes and rivers 

 which they frequent, and probably more are killed in the water 

 and on the islands than on the main land. The author above 

 quoted, in a note, says : '■ In some cases, the Indians in numbers 

 surround an island known to have moose or reindeer on it, when 

 a regular battue ensues." 



The greatest slaughter of the Moose by the natives — and so it 

 has been by the white men since — took place in the winter, when 

 the country was covered over with deep snow. With the aid of 

 snow-shoes, the Indians could pursue them at a rapid pace, while 

 the Moose had to struggle through the snow, into which he 

 would sink his whole depth at every step. No endurance could 

 sustain him a long time with such labor, and his prodigious 

 strength must at last succumb, while the Indian was rapidly pur- 

 suing him on the surface of the light snow on his broad snow- 

 shoes. Later in the season, when the surface of the snow was 

 softened or melted by the sun during the day, and became frozen 



1 Travels in Alaska and on the Yukon, p. 246. 



