ELK. 49 
These animals have such short necks and such 
long legs, that they cannot graze with any degree 
of comfort, and therefore generally reside amidst 
forests, for the purpose of browsing the boughs of 
trees. They feed likewise upon water plants, which 
their long legs enable them very readily to get at. 
They are very fond of the anagyris foelida, or stink- 
ing bean trefoil, and will remove the snow to a con- 
siderable depth, with their feet, on purpose to ob- 
tain it. They are said to feed principally in the 
night; and for the reason just mentioned, they al- 
ways, when they graze, choose an ascent. From 
the appearance of the stuffed specimen preserved in 
the Leverian Museum, we conclude that they are 
able to run with great swiftness, and would pro- 
bably far outstrip the hunters, if they were not pur- 
sued in the winter when the ground is covered with 
snow to the depth of three or four feet. This is the 
season in which the American Indians prepare to 
hunt the moose-deer ; and they choose a time when 
the sun begins to melt the surface of the snow, 
which freezes again at night into an icy crust, by 
far too weak to support the weight of the animal, 
who sinks and plunges at every step he takes : be- 
sides this impediment, which alone is sufficient to 
prevent his escape, he has to break his way through 
the forests, where the pine branches obstruct his 
flight by entangling his lofty horns, and his track 
may be very readily traced by the many scattered 
fragments which are left behind him. In this man- 
ner the chase is continued ; and notwithstanding 
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