ELK. 



265 



They are also often killed )vith the gun. When 

 first dislodged, the animal falls down or squats^ 

 as if disabled, for a moment or two, at which in- 

 stant the sportsman jfires : if he misses, the Moose 

 sets off in a most rapid trot, making, like the rein- 

 deer, a prodigious clattering with the hoofs, and 

 will run perhaps twenty or thirty miles before it 

 comes to bay, or takes to the water. But the 

 usual time for this diversion is the winter. The 

 hunters avoid entering on the chace till the sun 

 is strong enough to melt the frozen crust with 

 which the snow is covered ; otherwise the animal 

 can run over tlie firm surface : they wait till it 

 becomes soft enough to impede the flight of the 

 Moose, which sinks up to the shoulders, flounders, 

 and gets on with great difficulty. The hunter 

 pursues at his ease on his broad rackets or snow- 

 shoes, and makes a ready prey of the distressed 

 animal. 



The figure of the Elk given in the l£th vol. of 

 the Count de Buffbn's Natural History, is so un- 

 like the animal, that I can hardly conceive it to 

 represent the real Elk, but rather the large Ame- 

 rican Deer or Orignal, since the neck, instead of 

 being very thick and short, as in the Elk, is, on 

 the contrary, represented as of a slender and 

 highly elegant shape, and pretty well represents 

 that of the animal before mentioned. In the 7th 

 supplemental volume is, however, given a tole- 

 rable figure of a young Elk ; but the animal at 

 that period differs considerably in its appearance 

 from that which it assumes when full grown. 



