March, 1922 
no Indian omits for many hours in cold 
weather unless the pitsnargan holds none 
of the precious leaf. He may be halted, 
even, at this moment, for far ahead is 
a bluff where wood, water, and some 
measure of shelter are promised. 
It is as we thought. By the fire stands 
Moonias, The Stranger, so-called because 
his parents came originally from the 
home of another band. Tall, perfectly 
proportioned, with the proud, reserved 
carriage of the savage unspoiled, Moon- 
ias is not unlike the Indian Fenimore 
Cooper knew, but which it is now the 
fashion to scoff at. Here we have a man 
able to survive where the weaklings of 
civilization would weep their poor lives 
away. To him nature is as an open book 
which he can read at sight and even in 
a dim light. Not a track but tells what 
made it, when it was made, and why it 
was made. A few blood-stained feathers 
speak of a midnight tragedy, wherein a 
grouse had been the victim of the horned 
owl ; that broad, wallowing, furrow, with 
duck-like foot prints, shows where an 
otter passed from air-hole to rapid ; each 
swamp is criss-crossed by the tracks of 
rabbit, and in not a few the neat im- 
print of the fox’s pad tells that he, too, 
is a-hunting. 
When Moonias boils the water for 
his tea, fries his slice of mess pork, of 
which, by the bye, but a morsel now 
remains since he is headed homeward, 
!and of the rich, sustaining food the 
winter travHer rarely has an over-sup- 
I ply, his magnificent, wolfish train lie ex- 
) tended, their great, fierce eyes fixed on 
ii'lthe frying pan, though well they know its 
‘tontents is not for them. The toboggan 
'^iledhigh with the autumn’s catch of fur, 
lijshows the cunning hand of a master 
, packer, nothing short of an. immersion 
in some lake or stream could hurt its 
. precious freight, tarpaulin-covered and 
thong-bound as it is. And Moonias does 
well to pack with care, for that rough 
sled carries furs that even at the outly- 
ing post will be worth a thousand good 
dollars, and in London or Paris the ran- 
som of a prince. 
Between dawn and dark there arc but 
few hours .these winter days, so Moonias 
loses little time over his nooning. With 
''a strident “Mush!” the train is started, 
and smoking a pipe of mixed Hudson 
iBay plug and kinnikinic, Moonias swings 
lalong ahead of his dogs, as untiringly 
■ as when he left his camp irnder the 
jinorning star. 
Some days hence he will have ended 
his journe)^ — the long trail will lie be- 
hind him ; he will greet unemotionally, 
hut purchance as feelingly as more de- 
monstrative men, those of his own flesh 
and blood. The beautifid furs will be 
. traded for ammunition, white^man’s food, 
foolish things for the squaw, and sweets 
for the youngsters ; then, after a season 
spent idly in wigwam or teepee, Moonias 
will again harness the train and start 
out for the spring hunt, not to return 
until June, when bear, the la-st to fail, 
becomes unprime. 
Charles A. Bramble, 
Canada. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
GAME IN BRITISH 
COLUMBIA 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
W E have a great game-country here. 
During a ten-days’ hunt north of 
Ashcroft we saw 34 moose, and prob- 
ably 100 caribou. It rained about 
all the time we were out but we could 
have shot a moose every day. M e got 
one good one and a caribou and saw 
several grizzlies and traces of other ones 
but did not hunt them. The country has 
never been hunted to any extent and 
owing to the game never having been 
disturbed, we were able to get quite close 
to a good many moose, as long as they 
did not wind us or did not see us on 
foot. 
There are plenty of deer, goat and 
birds in this country, and there is great 
fly-fishing in some of the streams and 
Lbes. E. s. Knight. B. C. 
MOOSE ON THE NIPIGON 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
TT- seems that moose-hunting is some- 
^ what like playing poker in a smoking 
car — getting your game depends a lot 
upon whose deal it is. True, you can’t 
bluff a moose, but if you hold two aces, 
draw a third and keep an eye on your 
cards, you will probably have some 
“luck.” In other words, you may rate 
your skill and your gun pretty high, but 
unless you are a born woodsman, your 
chances of bringing in a head lie mostly 
with your guide. Personally, I don’t 
claim to be a big game hunter, but I 
have done a bit of it and intend to do 
more providing the exchequer holds out 
until next fall. 
However, to bear out the statement 
that the guide means much to the hun- 
ter, I want to go into a little detail. 1 
spent a few months in the Nipigon coun- 
try in Ontario last fall and naturally 
stayed long enough to bother the deer 
and moose. My friend “Mac” and I 
made several trips after the big fellows 
and about the last of October we brought 
back some venison. It seemed as though 
our experience with bull moose was of 
no avail up there in the hills. We tried 
every tactic we knew, and then blamed 
everything but ourselves when we 
121 
couldn't scare up anything but a stray 
cow or two. 
The weather began to grow colder the 
first week in November and we had a 
few snow flurries which didn't help us 
much, as we figured the nmose would 
begin to run. Moreover, the creeks be- 
gan to get crusty and by the IDth were 
frozen orer. Then, to make matters 
worse, the big snou- came. E\ cry time 
you brushed against a spruce or a bal- 
sam you had a neckful of the stuff poets 
rave about. 
About this time Mac and I began to 
grow tired of partridge and venison, so 
we held an indignation meeting to de- 
cide where to e.xten^l our linos of attack, 
but we couldn’t arri\’e at any conclusion. 
Mac was in favor of going north up the 
bay to salt spring country, and I held 
out for the old Inirn south, mentioning 
casually that shooting game at a salt- 
lick was too much like buying wheat on 
a declining market — all you had to have 
was a loose conscience. But one day I 
Avent in to meet the “iMuskeg Limited” 
from Port Arthur and saw an Indian 
Avhom I knew Avas an expert on the ques- 
tion.- I said, “Joe, can you take Mac 
and me to the moose?” It Avas a lead- 
ing question all right, for the answer I 
got Avas “Aha.” So I made the arrange- 
ments, to spend four days in the bush 
Avest of Carneron Falls on the Nipigon 
River. Joe had quite a reputation as a 
hunter in the district and Alac was rec- 
onciled shortly. 
M'e*met Joe and his boy as per 
schedule and made camp tAvo miles in 
from the riA'er along Bass Creek about 
noon. There Avas very little wind and 
loe held out about the same amount of 
hope of getting any game that day. M’e 
struck down an old tote-mad for tA\o 
or three miles and then the party, split. 
Mac going in with the boy and 1 with 
Joe. The cover Avas very thick in tins 
particular section and, v -'.h heavy " Mid- 
falls and deep snow, the going aa hs hard. 
Joe Avas too old a hand to *ollo” ; trail, 
fresh as it might be. be('nuse of rh,- lack 
of wind, hut instead hit .a srra'ght line 
for the high ground and burnt over 
land. Twice Ave heard the dull ‘‘Avhack” 
of horns butting against trees, hut both 
Photo by ^Nlarcus Bailey 
Bull moose surprised on small lake in British Columbia 
