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CHAPTER XXIV.

The Elk-his scarcity; size; description; gestation; longevity; horns; pace; places of resort; food; flesh; skin; domestication. Chasse of that animal.—Anecdote.

THOUGH it was an uncommon circumstance for elks to be seen in the vicinity of Lapp-cottage, they were rather abundant in the part of the country of which I am now speaking. During the past summer and autumn, Mattsson stated they had been unusually plentiful; and, as a proof of it, he said that, at the first setting in of the winter, forty-seven of these animals, as was seen by their tracks in the snow, had crossed the pathway leading from Tryssild to Elverum, which was in the vicinity of his residence, a distance of between twenty and thirty miles; and to have faced in a northerly direction for a line of country where they were in the habit of passing that inclement period of the year.

These noble animals, the pride of the Scandinavian wilds, were formerly found in many other

parts of Europe, where, the species is now altogether extinct. They were common, according to ancient authors, to the forests of Germany as well as of Gaul.

The elk was at one time numerous in most parts of Sweden and Norway; but owing to the increased population, and other causes, he is now only to be met with in particular districts. In Scania, the most southern province of Sweden, where elks once abounded, there are now none to be found. "The elk cannot endure," says Mr. Nilsson, "so cold a climate as the stag, the sixtyfourth degree of latitude being the extreme limit at which he is met with in the Scandinavian peninsula."

The elk is sometimes of an enormous size; though his length is not proportionate, it is said, he not unfrequently attains to the height of seven or eight feet. This I can readily believe, as Mr. Wise, the Swedish Consul-General, had one in his possession a few years ago, which, though only two years of age, measured nearly nineteen hands, or upwards of six feet at the shoulder. I once took the exact dimensions of a rather large male elk that I shot, but, unfortunately, I lost the string with which I effected that purpose out of my pocket. Though this animal was not fully grown, it was thought he weighed near one thousand pounds. The male elk is very much larger than the female.

The head of the elk is about two feet long; the neck, on which is a short upright mane, of a light brown colour, is much shorter; the eye is small, and from the lower corner of it, there is a deep slit, common to all the deer kind, as well as most of the gazelles; the ears are upwards of a foot in length, very broad, and somewhat slouching; the nostrils are wide; and the upper lip, which is square, and has a deep furrow in the middle, hangs greatly over the lower, whence it was imagined by the ancients, that this creature could not graze without going backwards; the withers are very high, the hind-legs much shorter than the fore-legs, and the hoofs deeply cloven; from a small excrescence under the throat hangs a long tuft of coarse black hair; the tail is about six inches long, dusky above, and white beneath; the hair is long, and rough, like that of the bear, and of a hoary brown, not much differing from that of an ass. The colour of the elk, however, varies according to his age and the season of the year; in the winter it has a grayer cast than at the opposite season.

The period of gestation with the elk is about nine months; the female brings forth about the middle of May, from one to three young ones; but it is seldom that she has more than two. At this period, the mother retires alone to the wildest recesses of the forest. After the lapse of two or three days, the fawns, which are of a light

LONGEVITY-DISPOSITION.

- WEAPONS. 329

brown colour, have sufficient strength to follow their dam every where; they keep with her until they are in their third year, when she leaves them to shift for themselves.

The elk is a long-lived animal; he does not attain to his full growth until after his fourteenth year. At least so it is to be presumed, as up to that period his horns, which are of a flat form, are annually provided with an additional branch. He sheds his horns about the month of February in each year. The female elk, unlike the reindeer of that sex, has no horns.

The horns of the young male elk are perceptible nine months after its birth: for the first year, they are cylindrical, and short; the second year they are about a foot in length, but not branched; the third year, two points are discernible; the fourth year, three; the fifth, they are full grown in length. From that time forward, they yearly increase in breadth, and in the number of branches, until there are as many as fourteen on each horn.

By nature, the elk is timorous, and he usually flies at the sight of man. In the rutting season, however, like other animals of the deer kind, he is at times rather dangerous. His weapons are his horns and hoofs; he strikes so forcibly with the latter, as to annihilate a wolf, or other large animal, at a single blow. It is said that, when the elk is incensed, the hair on his neck bristles up

like the mane of a lion, which gives him a wild and frightful appearance.

The usual pace of the elk is a high shambling trot, and his strides are immense, but I have known him, when frightened, to go at a tremendous gallop. In passing through thick woods, he carries his horns horizontally, to prevent them from being entangled in the branches; from the formation of his hoofs, he makes a great clattering, like the reindeer when in rapid motion.

In the summer season, the elk usually resorts to morasses and low situations; for, like other animals of the deer kind, he frequently takes to the water in warm weather; he is an admirable swimmer. In the winter-time, he retires to the more sheltered parts of the forest, where willow, ash, &c. are to be found; as, from the small boughs of these trees, he obtains his sustenance during that period of the year. In the summer and autumn, the elk is often to be met with in small herds; but in the winter, there are seldom more than two or three in company. At the latter season, indeed, he is frequently alone.

The flesh of the elk, whether fresh or smoked, is very excellent: the young are particularly delicious. According to Mr. Nilsson, it resembles in taste that of the stag. The tongue and the nose are thought to be great delicacies in Scandinavia, as well as in America. Great virtue was once placed in the hoof of that animal, as parings

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