140 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



of brandy, a body of brass, and eyes of glass to 

 resist the great cold which we encountered. This 

 was not without reason, for we were compelled 

 to have fires all about us during the night. 

 [ "As long as the meat of these animals lasts, the 

 savages scarcely think of moving, but when it is 

 consumed they make a new discovery and a similar 

 slaughter. This hunting is continued until the 

 snow and ice melt. ... As soon as the rivers 

 are open they make canoes with the skins of moose, 

 which they easily sew together, after which they 

 cover the seams with clay in place of tar. This 

 work lasts only three or four days. These canoes 

 are used for returning home, with all the baggage. 

 : "This, monsieur, was my amusement for three 

 months in the woods. We took sixty-six orignaux, 

 and we could have slaughtered twice as many 

 if we had been hunting for profit, that is to say, 

 expressly for the skins. ... I have enjoyed 

 hunting so much that I have resolved to do nothing 

 else when I have leisure."^ 



'The accompanying plate, from Lahontan's book, illustrates the 

 f * bear's paw " snowshoes in use in his time. The upper picture seems to 

 represent a forest, with a wapiti and two moose hock-deep in the snow. 

 In the lower picture crust hunting is shown. The Indian, like the trees, 

 seems to be in summer garb, except for his snowshoes. 



A good narrative of a snowshoe hunt with Indians on the upper- 

 Ottawa — the snow five feet deep — is given by "a military chaplain" 

 in Three Months among the Moose (Montreal, 1881), pp. 29-53. 



