THE HORNS OF THE MOOSE. 67 
Probably it may never again be my good fortune to re- 
visit these scenes of my youth; but can I ever forget the 
happy days and nights I have spent in the dense swamp, 
sparsely covered, barren, tangled woodland, or over the 
brilliant camp-fire, when, miles and miles away from civil- 
ization, I have been on an expedition to hunt moose? No! 
Though I have shot in all parts of the world, gone through 
scenes exciting, both as soldier and hunter, Northern Maine, 
with all its glorious lakes, rivers, and mountains, will stand 
paramount: for there my experience of moose-hunting was 
gained; there I made my maiden effort, which was a fail- 
ure, to return years afterward and awake the echoes with 
the war-whoop that proclaims success. 
In December moose-deer cast their horns; by April the 
successors commence to sprout; by the end of June full 
form is developed, but not till many weeks later are they 
denuded of velvet; when that takes place, the antlers are 
perfectly white; but exposure to the atmosphere soon gives 
them a tawny shade, which deepens with the lapse of time. 
The cow, of course, never bears these ornaments, but the 
young bull-calf at one year throws out a brace of knobs an 
inch in length; in the second season these are about six 
inches long; the third year they increase to nine or ten 
inches, with a fork; in the fourth season palmation is ex- 
hibited with several points. From this age there is a grad- 
ual increase in the palmation and number of points till the 
animal attains its greatest vigor, from which period the 
horns decrease in width and weight, at the same time be- 
coming more elongated. Twenty-three is the greatest num- 
ber of points I have seen on one head, and the weight of the 
“horns just exceeded seventy pounds. I doubt if larger has 
ever, of late years, been found. 
The young moose-deer, that is, those under five years, 
frequently do not show their new head-dress till March. 
