Forest Life and Forest Trees: comprising winter camp-life among the loggers, and wild-wood adventure.: with Descriptions of lumbering operations on the various; rivers of Maine and New BrunswickSpringer, John S.
History
Forest Life and Forest Trees: comprising winter camp-life among the loggers, and wild-wood adventure.: with Descriptions of lumbering operations on the various; rivers of Maine and New Brunswick
Springer, John S.
Lumbering -- Maine; Maine -- Description and travel; New Brunswick -- Description and travel; Trees
"As the snow was deep, and crusted sufficiently hard to bear us upon
snow-shoes, while the moose broke through at every leap, we were soon
sufficiently near them to allow a good shot. One of the men approached
within a few yards of the hindermost, and fired. The ball took effect,
but did not stop him. Still pursuing, another ball was lodged in his
body, when he turned at bay. It was now our turn to retreat; but,
after making a few bounds toward us, he turned and fled again, when we
again came up to the charge. I took the gun this time, and approached
within fifteen feet of him, and fired. He dropped instantly upon the
snow. Supposing him dead, we left the spot and pursued the other with
all possible dispatch, for there was not a moment to lose, as the
fugitive, alarmed by the report of the gun, was redoubling his
exertions to effect his escape. The dog, however, soon came upon him
and retarded his flight. Emboldened in his successful encounter with
the other, Rover dashed incautiously upon him, but nearly paid the
forfeit of his life. The moose gave him a tremendous blow with one of
his sharp hoofs, which made him cry out till the woods echoed with his
piteous howl. In vain did we try to induce him to renew the encounter.
His passion for the chase seemed effectually cooled; so we were
obliged to abandon the pursuit, and the more readily, as the day was
now quite spent. We returned to dress the one we had shot, but were
astonished, on arriving at the place where we left him, to find that
he, too, had made his escape. Tracking him by a trail of blood which
appeared to spirt out at every leap he made, we soon came up with him,
and fired again. The ball hit, but only to enrage him the more. Five
additional bullets were lodged in his perforated body, now making in
all nine. Having but one shot more, we desired to make it count
effectively; so, taking the gun, I approached very near upon one side,
and fired at his head. The ball passed directly into one eye and out
at the other, thus rendering him completely blind. The last shot
caused him to jump and plunge tremendously. He now became furious,
and, guided by the sound of our footsteps, would dart at us like a
catamount whenever we approached him. We had no ax to strike him down,
or to cut clubs with which to dispatch him. We were at a stand what to
do. We tried first to entangle him in the deep snow by approaching
him, and thus induce him to spring out of the beaten into the
untrodden snow; but the moment he found himself out, he would back
directly into the beaten path again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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