natural order; taking next the carnivora--the fifth; and
the smaller rodentia--the sixth; while the birds and reptiles will
follow in due course. Among these, however, we shall select only the
most notable and curious; for although North America does not teem with
animal life in the same degree as the southern half of the continent,
were we to attempt to introduce all those existing in it we could give
but a meagre account of each.

Without further preface, therefore, we will commence our survey with the
elk.

The monarch of the American pine-forests--the superb moose or elk--
ranges from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to the shores of the
Atlantic, at the eastern extremity of Nova Scotia, and passing the great
lake region, is found even as far as the State of New York. Observe him
as he stands with huge palmated horns ready for action, his vast
nostrils snuffing up the scent coming from afar; his eyes dilated, and
ears moving, watching for a foe; his bristly mane erect; his large body
supported on his somewhat thick but agile limbs, standing fully six feet
six inches in height at the shoulder, above which rise the head and
antlers. The creature's muzzle is very broad, protruding, and covered
with hair, except a small moist, naked spot in front of the nostrils.
He has a short, thick neck, the hair thick and brittle. The throat is
somewhat maned in both sexes. So large is the cavity of the nose, that
a man may thrust his arm right into it. The inter-maxillaries are very
long, and the nasals short. He differs from the European elk only by
having much darker hair,--the coat of the male, when in its prime, at
the close of the summer, being completely black. Under the throat the
males have a fleshy appendage termed the bell, from which grow long
black hairs. The bristles on his thick muzzle are of a lighter colour
than those of the coat, being somewhat of a reddish hue. The neck and
shoulders are covered with very fine soft wool, curiously interwoven
with the hair. Out of this the Indians manufacture soft, warm gloves.
The moose hair is very brittle and inelastic. It is dyed by the
Indians, and employed for ornamenting numerous articles of birch-bark.
The moose is of cautious and retiring habits, generally taking up his
abode amid the mossy swamps found round the margins of the lakes, and
which occupy the low ground in every direction. Here the cinnamon fern
grows luxuriantly, while a few swamp maple saplings