WAPITTI DEER. 97 
er’s courage and endurance; but if Caledonia’s rocky glens 
and heath-covered mountains boast of possessing such a 
hero, the far-distant plains and central plateaus of Amer- 
ica have a right to glory, for they feed and shelter a nobler 
quarry, if size and power constitute such. The New Land 
surpasses us in the magnitude of its rivers, mountains, 
water-falls, and trees; in her animal creation, also, she is 
ahead. Facts are facts; and when such is the case, the 
Britishers should surrender with a good grace; for to con- 
tradict, even evince skepticism, would only prove our igno- 
rance. 
But a thought arises in my mind, Will the Western 
World long possess those representatives of animal life of 
which she has a just right to be proud? I say no, if the 
work of destruction continues as now; for every border 
ruffian, every squatter, is allowed to slaughter at his will, 
and at all seasons, creatures the possession of which any 
land has a right to be proud. 
To the old mountaineers and Indian traders this animal 
was known by one appellation, and that an erroneous one; 
and so constant has become its use, that even among the 
educated classes this misnomer will be heard; thus the 
Wapitti is invariably denominated an elk, the proper name 
for a moose; so that the sportsman desirous of devoting 
his time to the pursuit of Wapitti deer, in seeking infor- 
mation where they are to be found, had better inquire for 
the animal under his false sobriquet. It is strange how 
many mistakes of this description have crept into the nam- 
ing of American quadrupeds, fishes, and birds: thus the 
buffalo is a bison; the pheasant, a grouse; the quail or 
partridge, an ortix. Dozens of these errors could be enu- 
merated, but the previous examples will suffice. 
The noble horns which the stag Wapitti bears give him 
& most imposing appearance; for they are wide-branching, 
5 
