THE ELK. 
73 
^'^ourite food at this season is the stinking 
the buds and bark of the button-wood, 
and maple-trees, spruce and juniper 
They browse against an ascent in pre- 
j^*’6Hce to level ground, which, owing to their 
legs and short neck, they cannot easily 
summer, to escape the torment of 
and other insects, they take to the 
and swim great distances with ease : 
_ these excursions enable them to gratify 
. almost ravenous appetite for various spe- 
® of aquatic plants. 
. ’t 1823 a Swedish elk of extraordinary 
Was brought to this country. Though 
only two years old, it had attained the 
of seven feet at the shoulders ; and it 
Ascertained that this animal does not arrive 
Its fall growth till its fifth year. A Swe- 
farmer, who took it, in 1821, in a forest 
(lish 
fl-. * ' ’ 
''Oe confines of Norway, so far domes- 
'^Ated it^ ipat it would draw a sledge and 
