CHANGES OF THE MOOSE-DEER. 77 
The poor moose is thus soon brought to bay; for his active 
pursuer, whose weight is so light that he does not break 
through the crust, dances in security around the game, 
snapping at every exposed point, and so engaging the vic- 
tim’s attention that the hunter can approach the quarry 
sufficiently close to deliver with certainty an unfailing shot. 
The flesh of the moose, although sweet, is very coarse. 
Still, many people prefer it. to any other. I can not say 
that such is the case with me, good beef being to my idea 
infinitely superior. The tongue, last entrail, and especially 
the moufile,.or extremity of the upper lip, are great delica- 
cies, more particularly when eaten cooked in the primitive 
style:of the backwoods. It may be the wood-fire, it may 
be the want of seasoning, or, more probably still, the fresh 
air and severe exercise of the hunt; but all that I have 
eaten when snugly housed about a camp-fire has been rel- 
ished with a gusto unknown in city life. A bonne bouche 
which must not be forgotten, and which only the moose- 
hunter can enjoy, or those who live near the haunts of this 
animal, is the marrow from the shank-bones of the legs, 
cooked immediately after the animal is killed. This, served 
on toast, with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper, would make 
the mouth of the most fastidious epicure water that had 
previous experience of its excellence. 
The moose-deer changes much in appearance with the ro- 
tations of the seasons. In summer ‘the coat is short and 
fine; in winter, coarse and long. Underneath the hair is 
found an abundant crop of soft wool, which doubtless en- 
ables them to endure the great severity of the northern 
winters. The face hair, different from that of the horse or 
cow, grows upward from the mouffle, on the termination of 
which there is a triangular bare spot. “The power of the 
jaws and teeth of the moose is very great. The facility 
with which they strip the bark from those trees that con- 
