90 THE MOOSE, OR ELK: 



banks, a clump of bushes, or rocks ; and now he emits the 

 cry of the cow moose, so exactly, that the male animal is 

 easily deceived by it. He waits : there is no response. An 

 interval of fifteen minutes elapses ; still no reply is heard. 

 Again the Indian sends his wild cry pealing through the 

 wood. Presently a low grunt, quickly repeated, comes from 

 some distant hill ; and the snapping of branches and falling 

 trees attests the approach of the bull. The hunter is now 

 doubly careful ; kneeling down, and thrusting the mouth of 

 his call into some bushes close by, he utters a lower and 

 more plaintive sound. At length an answer reaches his 

 ears. The snapping of the branches is resumed ; and pre- 

 sently the moose is seen stalking into the middle of the 

 moonlit " barren." Our weapons are ready ; and as the 

 magnificent animal stands looking eagerly around in the 

 woodland amphitheatre, a rifle ball, laden with death, brings 

 him to the ground. 



In some districts the Indians employ another method 

 of calling. They conceal themselves in a swamp, in the 

 midst of some damp mossy valley, during a dark night. One 

 holds a torch of birch bark with a match ready for lighting. 

 The hunter calls, and the moose approaches more readily than 

 towards the open " barren." When the creature is within 

 distance of the deadly rifle, the match is applied to the torch, 

 which, flaring up, illuminates the swamp, and discovers the 

 startled moose standing amidst the trees, and incapable ap- 

 parently of flight. The Indians declare that he is fascinated 

 by the light ; and though he may walk round and round it, 

 he will not leave the spot, and thus presents an easy mark to 

 the hunter's rifle. 



Let us set forth on an expedition to "creep'' moose, which 



