widest, closely netted over
with gut or deer-thong, with bars in the middle to rest the foot upon,
and a small hole to allow play to the toes, and you will have some idea
of a snow-shoe. Two of these--right and left--make a pair. They are
simply strapped on to your boots, and then their broad surface sustains
you, even when the snow is comparatively soft, but perfectly when it is
frozen.

"Thus equipped, my friend and I set out _a pied_, followed by a couple
of stout deer-hounds. We made directly for a part of the woods where it
was known to my friend that the striped maple grew in great plenty. It
has been stated already, that the moose are particularly fond of these
trees, and there we would be most likely to fall in with them.

"The striped maple is a beautiful deciduous little tree or shrub,
growing to the height of a dozen feet or so in its natural _habitat_.
When cultivated, it often reaches thirty feet. There is one at
Schonbrunn, near Vienna, forty feet high, but this is an exception, and
is the largest known. The usual height is ten or twelve feet, and it is
more often the underwood of the forest than the forest itself. When
thus situated, under the shade of loftier trees, it degenerates almost
to the character of a shrub.

"The trunk and branches of the striped maple are covered with a smooth
green bark, longitudinally marked with light and dark stripes, by which
the tree is easily distinguished from others, and from which it takes
its name. It has other trivial names in different parts of the country.
In New York state, it is called `dogwood;' but improperly so, as the
real dogwood (_Cornus florida_) is a very different tree. It is known
also as `false dogwood,' and `snake-barked maple.' The name
`moose-wood' is common among the hunters and frontiers-men for reasons
already given. Where the striped maple is indigenous, it is one of the
first productions that announces the approach of spring. Its buds and
leaves, when beginning to unfold, are of a roseate hue, and soon change
to a yellowish green; the leaves are thick, cordate, rounded at the
base, with three sharp lobes at the other extremity, and finely
serrated. They are usually four or five inches in length and breadth.
The tree flowers in May and June, and its flowers are yellow-green,
grouped on long peduncles. The fruit, like all other maples, consists
of _samarae_ or `keys;' it is produced in great abundance, and is ripe
in September o