THE CHASE. 351 
ficult. Then it is, that he may be met with, rashly roaming 
through the forest hunting for a mate, at the same time seeking 
combats with his own species and sex. After he has found the 
mate he desires, and they have retired to the secluded place se- 
lected for their home where they are to pass the honey moon — 
Ihave already stated that they are monogamic — they give up 
this roving habit and remain quietly at home, till the season is 
passed, unless disturbed by the hunter or the male is divorced 
and expelled by some powerful rival. When his domestic rela- 
tions are thus broken up he again starts on his travels more mad- 
dened and fierce than before, and although he may be an ugly 
brute to meet and provoke, the lack of his customary caution 
makes hin fall a more easy prey to the cautious hunter. 
Two modes of hunting the Moose at this season are chiefly re- 
lied upon, and in both of these the skill of the Indian is quite 
indispensable. The first is the still hunt, in which the track of 
the animal is followed over the most difficult ground in profound 
silence and with the greatest caution, till the game is seen be- 
fore he suspects the presence of his pursuer, and is then ap- 
proached with still greater labor and care, till within rifle range, 
or is discovered in his secluded lair, and is crept upon by the 
cautious hunter, till he can be reached by the leaden missile 
which is to crown the hopes of the hunter and reward him for 
all his pains. The other is the call, in which the Indian imitates 
the voice of the Moose either male or female in all its variations, 
and by this means induces the deluded animal to approach the 
concealed hunter, till he comes within shooting distance. The 
former must be pursued in the day-time, while the night or par- 
tial darkness are generally deemed necessary to insure success in 
the other. Long experience and a close habit of observation 
alone can qualify one to detect the foot-prints of the animal pur- 
sued, over the barren rocks or the yielding and elastic moss, 
where the unpracticed eye can detect no sign that the animal has 
ever been there; and an intimate knowledge of the habits of 
the animal is necessary to determine the course he has taken 
when the track is finally lost, and to determine the places 
where he would be most likely to stop to feed and rest, or the 
covert where he would be most likely to take up his abode dur- 
ing the conjugal relation. The call can only be successfully re- 
sorted to by those who after infinite practice are enabled at will 
to imitate to perfection all the notes uttered by the Moose of both 
sexes, and all ages, and under all circumstances, from the feeble 
