The habits of the moose, in his manner of defence and attack, are
similar to those of the stag, and may be illustrated by the following
anecdote from the "Random Sketches of a Kentuckian:"
Who ever saw Bravo without loving him? His sloe-black eyes, his glossy
skin, flecked here and there with blue; his wide-spread thighs, clean
shoulders, broad back, and low-drooping chest, bespoke him the true
stag-hound; and none, who ever saw his bounding form, or heard his
deep-toned bay, as the swift-footed stag flew before him, would dispute
his title. List, gentle reader, and I will tell you an adventure which
will make you love him all the more.
A bright, frosty morning in November, 1838, tempted me to visit the
forest hunting-grounds. On this occasion, I was followed by a
fine-looking hound, which had been presented to me a few days before by
a fellow-sportsman. I was anxious to test his qualities, and, knowing
that a mean dog will not often hunt well with a good one, I had tied up
the eager Bravo, and was attended by the strange dog alone. A brisk
canter of half an hour brought me to the wild forest hills. Slackening
the rein, I slowly wound my way up a brushy slope some three hundred
yards in length. I had ascended about half way, when the hound began to
exhibit signs of uneasiness, and, at the same instant a stag sprang out
from some underbrush near by, and rushed like a whirlwind up the slope.
A word, and the hound was crouching at my feet, and my trained Cherokee,
with ear erect, and flashing eye, watched the course of the
affrighted animal.
"On the very summit of the ridge, full one hundred and fifty yards,
every limb standing out in bold relief against the clear, blue sky, the
stag paused, and looked proudly down upon us. After a moment of
indecision, I raised my rifle, and sent the whizzing lead upon its
errand. A single bound, and the antlered monarch was hidden from my
view. Hastily running down a ball, I ascended the slope; my blood ran a
little faster as I saw the gouts of blood' which stained the withered
leaves where he had stood. One moment more, and the excited hound was
leaping breast high on his trail, and the gallant Cherokee bore his
rider like lightning after them.
"Away--away! for hours we did thus hasten on, without once being at
fault, or checking our headlong speed. The chase had led us miles from
the starting-point, and now appeared to be bearing up a creek, on one
side of which arose a precipitous hill, some two miles in length, which
I knew the wounded animal would never ascend.
"Half a mile further on, another hill reared its bleak and barren head
on the opposite side of the rivulet. Once fairly in the gorge, there was
no exit save at the upper end of the ravine. Here, then, I must
intercept my game, which I was able to do by taking a nearer cut over
the ridge, that saved at least a mile.
"Giving one parting shout to cheer my dog, Cherokee bore me headlong to
the pass. I had scarcely arrived, when, black with sweat, the stag came
laboring up the gorge, seemingly, totally reckless of our presence.
Again I poured forth the 'leaden messenger of death,' as meteor-like he
flashed by us. One bound, and the noble animal lay prostrate within
fifty feet of where I stood. Leaping from my horse, and placing one knee
upon his shoulder, and a hand upon his antlers, I drew my hunting
knife; but scarcely had its keen point touched his neck, when, with a
sudden bound, he threw me from his body, and my knife was hurled from my
hand. In hunters' parlance, I had only 'creased him.' I at once saw my
danger, but it was too late. With one bound, he was upon me, wounding
and almost disabling me with his sharp feet and horns. I seized him by
his wide-spread antlers, and sought to regain possession of my knife,
but in vain; each new struggle drew us further from it. Cherokee,
frightened at the unusual scene, had madly fled to the top of the ridge,
where he stood looking down upon the combat, trembling and quivering in
every limb.
"The ridge road I had taken placed us far in advance of the hound, whose
bay I could not now hear. The struggles of the furious animal had become
dreadful, and every moment I could feel his sharp hoofs cutting deep
into my flesh; my grasp upon his antlers was growing less and less firm,
and yet I relinquished not my hold. The struggle had brought us near a
deep ditch, washed by the fall rains, and into this I endeavored to
force my adversary, but my strength was unequal to the effort; when we
approached to the very brink, he leaped over the drain. I relinquished
my hold and rolled in, hoping thus to escape him; but he returned to
the attack, and, throwing himself upon me, inflicted numerous severe
cuts upon my face and breast before I could again seize him. Locking my
arms around his antlers, I drew his head close to my breast, and was
thus, by great effort, enabled to prevent his doing me any serious
injury. But I felt that this could not last long; every muscle and fiber
of my frame was called into action, and human nature could not long bear
up under such exertion. Faltering a silent prayer to Heaven, I prepared
to meet my fate.
"At this moment of despair, I heard the faint bayings of the hound; the
stag, too, heard the sound, and, springing from the ditch, drew me with
him. His efforts were now redoubled, and I could scarcely cling to him.
Yet that blessed sound came nearer and nearer! Oh how wildly beat my
heart, as I saw the hound emerge from the ravine, and spring forward
with a short, quick bark, as his eye rested on his game. I released my
hold of the stag, who turned upon the new enemy. Exhausted, and unable
to rise, I still cheered the dog, that, dastard-like, fled before the
infuriated animal, who, seemingly despising such an enemy, again threw
himself upon me. Again did I succeed in throwing my arms around his
antlers, but not until he had inflicted several deep and dangerous
wounds upon my head and face, cutting to the very bone.
"Blinded by the flowing blood, exhausted and despairing, I cursed the
coward dog, who stood near, baying furiously, yet refusing to seize his
game. Oh! how I prayed for Bravo! The thoughts of death were bitter. To
die thus in the wild forest, alone, with none to help! Thoughts of home
and friends coursed like lightning through my brain. At that moment,
when Hope herself had fled, deep and clear over the neighboring hill,
came the baying of my gallant Bravo! I should have known his voice among
a thousand. I pealed forth in one faint shout, 'On Bravo, on!' The next
moment, with tiger-like bounds, the noble dog came leaping down the
declivity, scattering the dried autumnal leaves like a whirlwind in his
path. 'No pause he knew,' but, fixing his fangs in the stag's throat, he
at once commenced the struggle.
"I fell back completely exhausted. Blinded with blood, I only knew that
a terrible struggle was going on. In a few moments, all was still, and I
felt the warm breath of my faithful dog, as he licked my wounds.
Clearing my eyes from gore, I saw my late adversary dead at my feet, and
Bravo, 'my own Bravo,' as the heroine of a modern novel would say
standing over me. He yet bore around his neck a fragment of the rope
with which I had tied him. He had gnawed it in two, and, following his
master through all his windings, arrived in time to rescue him from a
horrible death.
"I have recovered from my wounds. Bravo is lying at my feet. Who does
not love Bravo? I am sure I do, and the rascal knows it--don't you,
Bravo? Come here, sir!"