THE MOOSE.— HABITAT. 71 
and skins ; therefore, I am vastly more indebted to the trust- 
worthy observations of others, than to my own original observa- 
tions. Fortunately the Moose has been treated of by several 
naturalists of great ability ; each of whom has added something 
to the general stock of knowledge, to which I may be able to 
make but slight additions. That there is much yet to learn, may 
not be questioned, and I much regret the want of opportunities 
for studying this animal under domestication, for in this way 
alone, do I deem it possible to attain anything like a thorough 
knowledge of any member of this interesting family of ruminants. 
I hope it may be my good fortune to do this at some future time, 
but if I should not, then I trust some other person, better quali- 
fied to observe facts and to draw correct conclusions through care- 
ful and patient observations, will feel sufficient interest in the 
subject to incur the expense and take the time to make proper 
investigations, and in the interests of science to make them 
known. 
HABITAT. r 
The habitat of this, the grandest of our native ruminants, with 
perhaps one exception, originally extended from about forty- 
three to seventy degrees north latitude, occupying the entire 
breadth of the continent. He was seen as far south as the Ohio 
River, and has been met with as far north as the mouth of 
Mackenzie River; though I think they should be regarded as 
having been visitors rather than settled residents in both these 
localities. In portions of the territory which I have assigned 
them he was rarely if ever found, because of the absence of the 
conditions required by his habits ; but wherever these conditions 
did exist, he occupied the country in numbers proportioned to 
the favorable character of them. Everywhere these conditions 
have been impaired, and in places destroyed, by the presence of 
the white man; and in proportion as this has obtained has he 
disappeared altogether, or greatly diminished in number. Indeed, 
this may be said of most of our wild animals. They could stand 
the Indians, and could multiply and prosper in their presence. 
The rude weapons of the natives seemed not to have any abiding 
or fatal terror for the Moose, while the weapons and modes of de- 
struction adopted by the white man have either destroyed them, 
or driven them to the most secluded places attainable. When 
Hennepin and Lasalle first visited Illinois, two hundred years 
ago, the bison abounded in prodigious numbers, although the 
