20 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



north, while "northwesterly, inland, it remains 

 wholly unknown." 



"South of New Netherland," writes Montanus, 

 "are found numerous elks {eelandeii)^ animals 

 which, according to Erasmus Stella,^^ constitute 



Game in New Netherland 



a middle class between horses and deer. They 

 appear to derive their Dutch appellation from 

 elende (misery), because they die of the smallest 

 wound, however strong they may otherwise be; 

 also, because they are frequently afflicted with 

 epilepsy. . . . When hunted they spew hot water 



' Stella wrote, in Latin, early in the sixteenth century, of the elk of 

 Prussia. 



