72 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
whole country was occupied by Indian tribes, who to a great 
extent lived upon them. For the next hundred years but few 
white men visited the country, and scarcely any settled in it; 
and yet in that time nearly all the bison had crossed the Missis- 
sippi River; and after the most diligent research, I cannot learn 
that one has been seen in Illinois for the last eighty-five or ninety 
years. The last bison were observed in Illinois between 1780 
and 1790. 
If the range of the Moose is more inaccessible than that of the 
bison, and so he has been enabled to protect himself better when 
partially surrounded by civilization, his habitat has been con- 
stantly more and more circumscribed, as civilization has advanced 
upon him, till now he is only found in considerable numbers in 
Northern Alaska. Whimpon, who explored the Yukon River in 
1867, found the moose very abundant in 65° and 66° north lati- 
tude, and about 146° west longitude. He says: “ This part of the 
river abounds in Moose. At this season (June) the mosquitoes 
in the woods are a terrible scourge, and even the Moose cannot 
stand them. He plunges into the water and wades or swims, as 
the case may be, often making for the islands. This is, there- 
fore, a favorite part of the Yukon for the Indian hunter. The 
Moose are scarce at Nuclukayeth, and never known as low as 
Nulato. They must, however, be abundant on the smaller rivers, 
as, for example, the Newicargut, where the meat obtained was 
nearly all of this animal.” Nulato is in west longitude 159° 
and within less than two degrees of the Pacific Coast, and but 
little south of Behring Strait. 
Some are met with every year in Montana, where they are 
sometimes called by the hunters Zree Toppers, and are repre- 
sented as being much taller than the average of the species ; 
though this I much doubt, presuming the size has been exag- 
gerated by hunters desiring to sell me live specimens at exorbi- 
tant prices. They are said to be found in considerable numbers 
in the Dominion north of Montana, whence they are now rapidly 
disappearing. 
It is impossible to say how abundant they are in the extreme 
northern part of the continent, but it is probable they are not 
much diminished, for there they were never in great numbers, 
and probably never remained through the arctic winter. A few 
still remain in the extreme northeastern parts of the United 
States. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick a few are taken 
each year, but it requires the most skillful hunters, with patient 
