236 A Bear Hunt in the Adirondacks. 



Meanwhile, I commenced sketching; and Sturgis, after 

 looking the bear all over, discovered that my last bullet 

 had entered the skull near the ear and had shattered the 

 bone in pieces. Twisting a young black birch tree into a 

 wythe, he knotted it round the neck of the bear — three 

 feet in circumference — and started to " snake him out" 

 (phrase more expressive than elegant) down the mountain 

 and along the rivers, three miles to the road and the house. 

 I remained a little while to sketch and to measure dis- 

 tances. Just beyond the hemlocks through which I fired 

 the first shot, I saw some black hair on the snow, and 

 taking it up found a bloody bullet wrapped in it, the 

 lead indented and mashed, and fragments of bone inclosed. 

 This first bullet had passed through his chest; yet he lived 

 on ! "When that shot was fired I was distant from the bear 

 four rods, four yards and one foot; being twenty-four 

 lengths of my snow shoes and a foot. The last shot, 

 which pierced his brain, was fired at a range of about 

 seven rods ; at that distance it is a matter of nicety, with 

 a long-range rifle, to keep from overshooting, especially 

 when added to the excitement the object is in rapid move- 

 ment. 



Hunters generally mention the fore shoulder as the pro- 

 per place to aim at ; for the head, they say, being always 

 in rapid motion makes a poor mark. I fired five shots at 

 this bear's right shoulder, and it was only at the last mo- 

 ment that I changed my aim to the head ; with what effect 

 I have already told. When skinned it was found that 

 his right fore shoulder bone was broken; pierced in two 

 places by bullets, while three other balls had entered and 

 passed through the chest, yet so far up or forward as to 

 escape the heart and lungs; cutting some arteries, how- 

 ever, from which he bled inwardly and very profusely. 

 Heavy and large as the bullets were (three-quarters of an 

 ounce) the muscles on his breast and shoulders were so 



