Here
and there, nearer the shore, however, its surface was prettily
interspersed with small clumps of willows, that formed little copse-like
thickets of deep green. Beside one of these thickets, within a hundred
yards of the beach, the fire had been kindled, on a spot of ground that
commanded a view of the plain for miles back.

"Look yonder!" cried Francois, who had finished eating, and risen to his
feet. "What are these, captain?" Francois pointed to some objects that
appeared at a great distance off upon the plain.

The "captain" rose up, placed his hand so as to shade his eyes from the
sun, and, after looking for a second or two in the direction indicated,
replied to the other's question by simply saying--

"Wapiti."

"I'm no wiser than before I asked the question," said Francois. "Pray,
enlighten me as to what a wapiti may be!"

"Why, red deer; or elk, if you like."

"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_.

"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