400 BEAR-SHOOTING IN TRANSYLVANIA. 
A violent storm, succeeded by a striking change of the 
temperature, now brought the summer to a close. Cool days 
followed, the foliage changed its colour, and autumn quickly 
made its appearance. On the morning of the 23rd we ob- 
served with pleasure how very much colder it had become, 
while favourable reports of tracks came from various localities, 
and the first woodcocks were seen in the Gorgény valley. 
The beat selected adjoined the ground of the preceding 
day, and, though rather small, was very thickly wooded with 
young trees. The guns were posted, as they invariably are 
when driving these lower woods, on a narrow path where 
there was very little room for shooting. The beaters had 
already come out at the centre and the right wing of the line 
without having seen anything whatever; but on the left they 
were still in the cover, and suddenly set up a tremendous 
yelling. A young sportsman, Herr v. M., thinking that the 
beat was finished, left his post, but hardly had he got up to 
his neighbour when a big black bear broke just in front of 
the beaters, and crossed at the very spot which he had just 
quitted. There it stopped for a moment in the middle of the 
path, but vanished into the opposite thickets before the 
astounded sportsmen could unsling their rifles and fire. 
We now held a quick consultation as to what was to be 
done, and decided to station ourselves on a hill in a rather 
open copse, and to drive the wood into which the bear had 
crossed along the slope. Unfortunately many of the beaters, 
and even some of the keepers, did not know the ground, as it 
lay over the March in the estate of Baron K., and was usually 
driven in another way; so that they made a mistake, and 
brought the bear out at a place where it was only heard but 
not seen by the outside guns. The next three beats of the 
day, which were made in pouring rain, were blank, in spite 
of our having found the fresh tracks of three bears on the 
soaking wet roads. 
