Part 16 (1/2)
As he proceeded, the tiave place to poplar-trees, with here and there an undergrowth of s The trees stood far apart, and the s grew only in clumps or ”islands,”
so that the vieas nearly open for many hundred yards around Basil walked on with all the silence and watchfulness of a true ”still”
hunter--for, a is so called
He ascended a low hill, and keeping a tree in front of him, looked cautiously over its crest Before hi from the bottom of the hill, was a level tract of considerable extent
It was bounded on one side by the edge of the lake, and on all the others by thin woods, sih which the hunter had been for so Here and there, over the plain, there stood trees, far apart fro the view for athe ied by a thicket of s
As Basil looked over the hill, he espied a sroup of animals near the interior border of the s He had never seen anienus was easily told The tall antlered horns, that rose upon the head of one of them, showed that they were deer of some kind; and the iether with his ungainly fore head with its overhanging lip, his short neck with its standing mane, and, above all, the broad palmation of the horns themselves, left Basil without any doubt upon his est, and perhaps the most aard, of all the deer kind
The one with the antlers was the male or bull-moose The others were the fe year The latter were still but half-grown, and, like the fe horns”
that adorned the head of the old bull They were all of a dark-brown colour--looking blackish in the distance--but the large one was darker than any of the others
Basil's heart beat high, for he had often heard of the great moose, but no it for the first time In his own country it is not found, as it is peculiarly a creature of the cold regions, and ranges no farther to the south than the northern edge of the United States territory To the north it is rows--even to the shores of the Polar Sea! Naturalists are not certain, whether or not it be the same animal with the elk of Europe Certainly the two are but little, if anything, different; but the naiven in America to quite another and smaller species of deer--the wapiti
The moose takes its name from its Indian appellation, ”moosoa,” or ”wood-eater;” and this name is very appropriate, as the anis of trees In fact, its structure--like that of the carass, or any other herbage, except where the latter chances to be very tall, or grows upon the declivity of a very steep hill When it wishes to feed upon grass, the moose usually seeks it in such situations; and it s spread widely on both sides of its neck But its favourite food is found at ashoots of many species of trees It prefers those of the poplar, the birch-tree, and s, and one kind of these last, the red , is its particular favourite
The ”striped” maple is also much relished by the moose--hence the na the hunters It loves also the co out into lakes, and plucking up their succulent leaves It takes to the water also for other purposes--to cool its body, and rid itself of several species of gnats and ly At such times it is more easily approached; and the Indians hunt it in their canoes, and kill it in the water, both with spears and arrows They never find the e numbers--for it is a solitary ani one part of the year, and in families at another season--as Basil now found it
In winter the Indians track it through the snow, following it upon snow-shoes These give the the surface, while the h the deep rift, and is therefore i, it will frequently escape from the hunter, after a _chase of several days' duration_! Sometimes, in deep snow, a dozen or more of these aniot accidentally together The snoill be trodden down until the place appears as if enclosed by a wall This the hunters term a ”moose-pound,” and when found in such situations the eneral _battue_ takes place, in which few or none of the animals are allowed to escape
I have said that Basil's heart beat high at the sight of theone--partly on account of the novelty of the thing, and partly because he and his coe of diet Moose-; and he knew that if he could return to caun, he would receive a double welcome He ell aware that the flesh of the moose was of thependulous upper lip is one of the ”tit-bits” of the fur countries Moreover, the fine hide would be an acceptable addition to their stock, as it is the best of all deer-skins for mocassins, as well as snow-shoes--articles which Basil kneould soon be needed For these reasons he was unusually desirous of killing one of the moose
He kneould be difficult to approach them He had heard that they were shyest at that very season--the beginning of winter--and indeed such is the case No deer is so difficult to get a shot at as a moose in early winter In summer it is not so--as then the ree that they pay less heed to other enemies, and the hunter can more easily approach them In winter they are always on the alert Their sense of s--is acute to an extre besides They can scent an ene distance off--if the wind be in their favour--and the snapping of a twig, or the slightest rustle of the leaves, is sufficient to start theh the snohen they wish to rest the back, lie down near the track which they have already passed over This gives the upon their trail, and also ofoff in a side-direction, while the latter will be looking steadfastly ahead for them
Basil had heard of all these tricks of the moose--for many an old moose-hunter had poured his tale into Basil's ear He proceeded, therefore, with all due caution He first buried his hand in his gaht out a downy feather which had chanced to be there This he placed lightly upon the ently elevated the piece above his head, watched the feather After a moment, the breeze carried it off, and Basil noted the direction it took This is called, in hunter phrase, ”tossing the feather,” and gave Basil the exact direction of the wind--an iratification he saw that it was blowing down the lake, and nearly towards himself He was not exactly to leeward of the ed the lake were, for he could see the from the deer, as the breeze blew freshly He knew he could easily get a the s; and as they were not quite leafless, and, rass, they forhtti the the shore of the lake
He had a full half-hour's creeping--at one ti flat upon his breast like a gigantic lizard, and now and then, at favourable spots, walking in a bent attitude A full half-hour was he, andwithin shot But Basil was a hunter, and knew both how to endure the pain and practise the patience--virtues that, in hunting as well as in many other occupations usually meet with their reward And Basil was likely tocautiously through, he saw that he had arrived at the right spot Within fifty yards of hireat flat antlers towering over the tops of the s, a the leaves of which the snout of the aniliht only of the bull, and it was upon him that he kept his eyes fixed Basil did not think of the quality of the meat, else he would have selected either the cow or one of the calves Had it been buffaloes he would certainly have done so; but as he had never killed a moose, he was determined to slay the leader of the herd
Indeed, had he wished to shoot one of the others, it ht not have been so easy, as they were farther off, and he could only see the tops of their shoulders over the s Neither did the bull offer a fair mark He stood face to face with the hunter, and Basil fancied that a shot on the frontal bone ht not kill him He kneould not kill a buffalo There was only one other part at which he could ai soive him a fairer chance he took ai of hoofs, as the cow and calves shambled off over the plain, but he saw that the bull was not with them He was down behind the s No doubt he was dead
CHAPTER XXV
ENCOUNTER WITH A MOOSE
What was a rare thing for Basil to do, he rushed forithout reloading his gun A few springs brought hiame To his astonishment, the bull was not dead, nor down neither, but only upon his knees--of course wounded Basil saw the ”crease” of the bullet along the neck of the anilance that he saw this, for as soon as the bull saw _hi like a tiger's--and settling his antlers in a forward position, sprang upon the hunter!
Basil leaped aside to avoid the encounter; and in the first rush was successful, but the ani up a second tih in the air, and struck forith his long-pointed hoofs
Basil attempted to defend himself with his rifle, but the piece was struck out of his hand in an instant Oncethe forward rush of the infuriated beast, the young hunter looked around for some object to save him A tree fell under his eye, and he ran towards it with all his speed The moose followed close upon his heels, and he had just tiet around its trunk, when the ani the bark with his sharp antlers Basil now slipped round the trunk, and when the ain turned himself the tere on opposite sides of the tree! The beast, however, rushed up, and struck the tree furiously first with his brow antlers, and then with his hoofs, uttering loud snorts, and at intervals a shrill whistling sound that was terrible to hear