down. As I had partaken of this sport I was able to give
an account of it to my companions.

"In the winter of 18--, I had occasion to visit a friend who lived in
the northern part of the state of Maine. My friend was a backwood
settler; dwelt in a comfortable log-house; raised corn, cattle, and
hogs; and for the rest, amused himself occasionally with a hunt in the
neighbouring woods. This he could do without going far from home, as
the great forests of pine, birch, and maple trees on all sides
surrounded his solitary clearing, and his nearest neighbour was about
twenty miles off. Literally, my friend lived in the woods, and the
sports of the chase were with him almost a necessity; at all events,
they were an everyday occupation.

"Up to the time of my visit, I had never seen a moose, except in
museums. I had never been so far north upon the American Continent; and
it must be remembered, that the geographical range of the moose is
confined altogether to the cold countries. It is only in the extreme
northern parts of the United States that he appears at all. Canada,
with the vast territories of the Hudson's Bay Company, even to the
shores of the Arctic Sea, is the proper _habitat_ of this animal.

"I was familiar with bears; cougars I had killed; elk and fallow deer I
had driven; 'coons and 'possums I had treed; in short, I had been on
hunting terms with almost every game in America except the moose. I was
most eager, therefore, to have a shot at one of these creatures, and I
well remember the delight I experienced when my friend informed me there
were moose in the adjacent woods.

"On the day after my arrival, we set forth in search of them, each armed
with a hunting-knife and a heavy deer-gun. We went afoot; we could not
go otherwise, as the snow lay to the depth of a yard, and a horse would
have plunged through it with difficulty. It was an old snow, moreover,
thickly crusted, and would have maimed our horses in a few minutes. We,
with our broad rackets, could easily skim along without sinking below
the surface.

"I know not whether you have ever seen a pair of rackets, or Indian
snow-shoes, but their description is easy. You have seen the rackets
used in ball-play. Well, now, fancy a hoop, not of circular form, but
forced into an elongated pointed ellipse, very much after the shape of
the impression that a capsized boat would make in snow; fancy this about
three feet long, and a foot across at its