ike."

"Oh! elk--now I understand you. I thought they were elk, but they're so
far off I wasn't sure."

Lucien at this moment rose up, and looking through a small telescope,
which he carried, confirmed the statement of the "captain," and
pronounced it to be a herd of elk.

"Come, Luce," demanded Francois, "tell us what you know of the elk. It
will pass the time. Norman says it's no use going after them out there
in the open ground, as they'd shy off before one could get within shot.
You see there is not a bush within half-a-mile of them."

"If we wait," interrupted Norman, "I should not wonder but we may have
them among the bushes before long. They appear to be grazing this way.
I warrant you, they'll come to the lake to drink before nightfall."

"Very well then: the philosopher can tell us all about them before
that."

Lucien, thus appealed to, began:--

"There are few animals that have so many names as this. It is called in
different districts, or by different authors, _elk, round-horned elk,
American elk, stag, red deer, grey moose, le biche, wapiti_, and
_wewaskish_. Naturalists have given not a _few of_ their designations,
as _Cervus Canadensis, Cervus major, Cervus alces, Cervus
strongylocerus, etcetera_.

"You may ask, Why so many names? I shall tell you. It is called `elk'
because it was supposed by the early colonists to be the same as the elk
of Europe. Its name of `grey moose' is a hunter appellation, to
distinguish it from the real moose, which the same hunters know as the
`black moose.' `Round-horned elk' is also a hunter name. `Wewaskish,'
or `waskesse,' is an Indian name for the animal. `Stag' comes from the
European deer so called, because this species somewhat resembles the
stag; and `red deer' is a name used by the Hudson Bay traders. `Le
biche' is another synonyme of French authors.

"Of all these names I think that of `wapiti,' which our cousin has
given, the best. The names of `elk,' `stag,' and `red deer,' lead to
confusion, as there are other species to which they properly belong, all
of which are entirely different from the wapiti. I believe that this
last name is now used by the best-informed naturalists.

"In my opinion," continued Lucien, "the wapiti is the noblest of all the
deer kind. It possesses the fine form of the European stag, while it is
nearly a third larger and stronger. It has all the grace of limb and
motion that belongs to the common deer, while its t