8 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



thanks to the extraordinary tidal action in the 

 Bay of Fundy, it is capable of floating vessels 

 of considerable size. Indeed, shipbuilding on a 

 respectable scale has been carried on along its 

 banks. 



This map is entitled ^'Figure du Port Royal en 

 la Nouvelle France, par Marc Lescarbot, 160Q,'* 

 On its lower margin, close to the river which was 

 named in its honor, stands a moose. This is 

 probably the earliest picture of the American 

 moose which has come down to us. 



" First let us speak of the elk, " writes Lescarbot, 

 "which they [the Indians] call Jptaptou, and our 

 Basques Orignac. ... It is the most abundant 

 food which the savages have, except fish."^ 



Lescarbot describes a winter hunting trip of the 

 savages, when with their dogs they sought out 

 the moose, helpless by reason of the deep snow 

 on which crust had formed. "We made a very 

 luxurious repast with this tender venison," he 

 writes. "After the roast we had soup, quickly 

 prepared in abundance by a savage who made a 

 trough with his ax, from the trunk of a tree, in 

 which he stewed the meat. . . . This was accom- 



^ Premier ement parlons de V Elian lequel Us appellent Aptaptou, 

 noz Basques Orignac. . . . Cest la plus ahondante manne qu'ayent les 

 Sauvages apres le poisson.*' — Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France 

 (Paris, 1609), p. 811. 



