farmyard fowl. It was a novel sight to see those birds 
sit there until hit, while here in Massachusetts they fly 
as soon as they can hear you, and some will fly a mile 
before (liey stop. Signs of moose and caribou were plenty 
and fresh. After I had gone about five miles Alex caught 
up with me. and we made very good time, the walking 
being much better. Wc arrived at Trousers Lake camp 
at 10:30 A. 'M. Here the wagon was unloaded, being as 
far as the team could go. Everything was found to be in 
good condition, greatly to my surprise, after the pound- 
ing and shaking up it had received. Here were opened to 
uie the beauties of a Canadian forest in the full blazonry 
of autumn foliage, again a somber background of spruce 
and cedar, with hardwood ridges large and small, near 
and distant, in all directions. It had been my intention to 
go in .still further to Island Lake, but it was decided to 
prospect in this vicinity before going, as moose works 
were found disappointing at both Long and Island lakes 
with the previous party. As soon as dinner was over, my 
guide said : "We will start right in now and get a moose. 
They are seldom ever killed in camp." I took the hint 
and shouldered my rifle. We visited a lake about a mile 
di.stant, where moose had been seen often, but there came 
no answer to the birch-bark horn. Ducks were preening 
their feathers on a near-by point, and they were the only 
liv'ng game we saw. "To-morrow," said Alex. "I shall 
lalce you to a lake that has never been visited by a sports- 
man, to my knowledge." I shall not go into detail and tire 
the reader by asking him to follow me step by step all 
througli m3^ many miles of tramping and canoeing. 
We visited the lake, and before reaching it signs were 
numerous, so much so, that we approached with the 
greatest caution. Judging by the tracks seen. I would not 
liave been surprised to see a whole drove of almo-t any 
kind of animals. It was, and still is. one of the mnst 
likely spots I have ever seen, though we saw nothing. It 
was a small pond of about three acres, and oblong, with a 
sland about half way. where the hunter could easily shoot 
his game at any point it might show itself. On one side 
and one end was a bog some .30 yards wide, and it was a 
sight to behold. "Ain't it a fright?" as Alex expressed 
it. Here were moose, caribou and deer tracks, all mixed 
up, and the bog was literally all cut up. Some of the 
signs were very fresh, but. of course, most of the tramping 
had been done during the summer, when all big game 
spend a great part of the time in the water to feed and 
rid themselves of the flies. 
As we were prospecting, we took the canoe the next 
day and went to the upper camp at the head of Trousers 
Lake, on the left-hand leg. a distance of five miles. We 
took with tis provisions for a few days, and just before 
smiset paddled up to the head. Our camp was a quarter 
mjle below. .A.lex gave a call, and after waiting about 
fifteen minutes we got an an.swer from a bull away up 
among the hills, as far as we cOuld hear. After at least 
fifteen or twenty minutes another call was given, and was 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
answered immediately somewhat nearer. But darkness 
came on faster than the mOose. The guide said : "Never 
mind, he will be around here in the morning, and we will 
come and .get him," s<i back to camp wc went, with bril- 
liant prospects for the morrow. Wc were there as soon 
as we could see, and sO' was the moose, thougli he had 
changed his base of operations to some ridges further east- 
ward. He would answer every call ; sometimes he would 
he quite near, and the next time further off than ever. He 
kept going back and forth on this ridge, bellowing for 
more than an hour, then all was still. Knowing that 
eternal vigilance was the price of a moose, we kept still 
and watched. It was not long before I heard a twig snap 
right in front of us, and in a few seconds we could see 
his breast and bell ; a good, long bell he had, too, but I 
could not see his horns, and was determined not to kill 
one that did not have good, big. handsome horns that I 
could feel some measure of pride in hanging up and show- 
ing my friends." So I would not shoot, though he was 
within 50 yards of us. and with two steps more must 
surely .show us his whole body. We had not the slightest 
doubt that he would take those two steps, and he did, but 
they were heels toward us; he onlj- stopped a second or 
two, but long enough to get our wind ; though the wind 
was not blowing directly his way, being in a cove he got it, 
and. like the .Vrab. folded his tent and silently stole away. 
Satisfied that it was of no use to try longer there, we 
struck' up among the hills for a small lake. Here we 
found signs everywhere. At the lake a cow moose came 
in just as we got there. She was on the opposite s de. and 
we backed out and worked around toward her. itntil within 
75 yards. We stood perfectly still in a moose path, just at 
the edge of the woods, and she worked along toward us, 
until she was within 12 feet, the wind blowing fresh from 
her to us. When we scared her she ran abotit 15 yards 
and stopped and looked at us. The next time she started 
she made the water fly, having decided that we were some- 
thing dangerous or terrible to look itpon. 
It would have lieen a rare chance for a camera, but the 
day was stormy, so 1 left it at camp. I have been a 
lUiotrgraphcr long enough to know that it is of no use to 
try to make snap shots in the woods in cloudy weather at 
this time of the year. I regretted not having it this day, 
for here was the largest beaver house it Avas ever my 
pleasure to see ; it stood over 6 feet high and 10 feet 
across its base, with as large a pile of birch and poplar 
trees and limbs extendin.g some 20 feet into the water; all 
this 'the beavers had brought from long distances for 
their winter's supply of food. We found a splendid speci- 
men of beaver cutting. A birch tree about 8 inches in 
diameter had been felled and all the limbs trimmed off as 
if done with a dtill axe ; and abottt 8 feet of the top was 
gone. The nice part of the job was that the tree lay flat 
on the ground, showing the good judgment of the beaver, 
as standing trees were so thick all around it could not have 
been felled at all except exactly where it did fall. I had 
my guide cut off this tree below where the beavers had 
gnawed it off and it still hung, and lugged it on my shoul- 
der five miles to the canoe, and kept a watchful eye on it 
until safely landed in my den. I do not suppose all little 
things interest everybody as they do me, but I went to the 
woods not only to kill big game, but to see and study 
nature and woodcraft in the primeval forest, where the 
sound of the logger's axe has never been heard, where 
nature and the animals reign supreme. 
The next morning we tried for our moose again. Got 
an answer right off, but we could not coax him any 
nearer: he was "dead on to us," as the saying is; he 
remembered his previous experience. Some people will 
laugh at the idea, but let such as don't believe it go and 
hunt moose awhile and see if they don't find out that he 
IS a gentleman who cannot be fooled every day by all the 
people. We stayed there for three hours and tried all 
ways to get him out; the guide took the canoe and went 
down the lake, calling with the horn pointed away from 
him. but come nearer he would not, so after we got tired 
of hearing the bull bellow, we went off and left him as a 
bad case. 
Loading up the canoe, we return to Depot Camp, and the 
next day, taking fresh supplies and tent, leave again, going 
up the right-hand leg for the portage to Mud Lake. 
Alexander's brother, David, and a sportsman from 
Worcester. Mass., came in the night before and went up 
to their camp. It began to rain soon after we started, and 
we got pretty well soaked before the day was over and the 
tent up, but a good camp-fire soon made us comfortable 
and supper made us happy. From this on it rained almost 
continually for eight days. We were now in where there 
were no logging roads to travel, and to go through the 
Avoods was like walking into the lake, so hunting was 
mostly by canoe: Signs were plenty, but luck and weather 
were against us. We now could not even get an answer 
to the birch-bark horn. Finally the guide's patience was 
exhausted, and he declared that the calling season was 
over and that we would have to hunt them on the ridges. 
My time was half up. and I had no moose yet, and things 
were beginning to take on a bluish cast. I was not dis- 
couraged, however; I have been a hunter too long. I 
had come up there with the firm determination to work 
hard every day I was there until success crowned my 
efforts, or my time was up: then, if I did not get my 
game I could feel that I had done the best I could. 
And better hick was in store for me. We opened our 
eyes on the morning of Oct. 17 to look out and see the 
ground and trees white with snow. Six inches had fal- 
len during the night. We prepared breakfast as quickly 
as possible, and were soon headed into the woods. Our 
.spirits were higli. for no finer morning could be possible 
for still-hunting if made to order. We had gone less than 
a quarter-mile when Alex discovered that a very large 
caribou had crossed the path we were on. Without ma- 
king any talk, we took the trail, and it led us directly into 
a swamp, with trees fallen in all directions and so thick 
that progress was very slow. Between crossing a stream 
every few minutes and climbing over windfalls. I think it 
the worst I ever experienced. After following the trail a 
little way, it led us through and under some trees where a 
caribou could never have gone if it had horns, so we 
decided that it was a cow and left it. only to find that 
three deer had just crossed ahead of us. and not more 
than a hundred yards further was a large, very large, 
moose track, headed into the wind and directly to the 
top of a high ridge. Following carefully, we came upon 
him rather sooner than we expected. There he was in 
plain sight, not .so yards away, his head behind the up- 
turned roots of a fallen tree. I soon put a bullet just un- 
der his ear. breaking his neck short off. There was a 
slight shake of one foot and a monarch of the forest was 
dead. Well, if the people down at the settlement had 
asked us on our return what all that noise was. up in the 
woods on the morning of the 17th, I should have known 
just what they meant, for two happier mortals are seldom 
seen walking around on this earth. I distinctly remember 
t_hat we sent up a few war whoops and did a skirt-dance, 
for here was a moose that would make any man proud, 
with antlers spreading 53 inches, and 16-inch palms, with 
I wenty-seven point.s. I think Alex was as much pleased as 
I was. Surely he made as much noise. I did not make so 
much as I wanted to. for fear of acting foolishly. But we 
had worked hard for the game up to this time, and were 
entitled to all the glory there was. I am not going to tell 
how much he weighed, for I don't know ; it could only be 
a guess, and I have read so much about the weights of 
b g moose- killed by hunters, and I am of the opinion the^' 
are inclined to look much heavier than the scales would 
show, as a rule ; so to be on the safe side I say I think this 
ni.oose about as large as they often grow. Alex judged 
him to be at least a dozen years old. After our exulta- 
tion. Alex went to camp for the camera, and I made 
several views of the moose, and we proceeded to dress 
him and cut up the meat. The head and scalp we took to 
camp, bringing the meat and hide the next day. What a 
feeling of satisfaction and contentment One feels returning 
to camp just before n'ght with the head and antlers of a 
big moose hanging out over the sides of the canoe ! I 
was sorry there was no one at camp to see us come in with 
our prize. People say to me, "You were lucky," and I 
admit it. Luck is something that plays a very important 
part in hunting. I know of men who have been year after 
year hunting hard every day for a moose, and have not 
even got a chance to shoot at one. One man told his 
guide when they first started to hunt, that he did not want 
to get his moose easily; he wanted to work hard for him. 
He has been working and walking for the last six years 
and has not got him yet. And there are others. 
From this time to the end of my time in the woods we 
cottld hardly move without seeing a moose somewhere. I 
was in the woods twenty-three days and saw twenty-one 
moose. Alex killed a bull with a very handsome head at 
Muddy Lakes. . Dave and his sportsman came down from 
their camp with two heads, and when>the toter came we 
gave him one of the biggest loads of horns that ever went 
down the river. Had we desired, and the law per- 
mitted, we could easily have killed two more bulls. I am 
very confident. If my luck could have been divided up 
on caribou. I would have been still better satisfied. Most 
of the parties both before and after me got caribou in 
this same section ; with me, it seemed to be a famine in 
the midst of plenty. 
