The Nova Scotia Black Bear 



Then herding her cubs before her, she ambled off. We 

 had no doubt but that it was our bear family which had 

 caused this break in the routine work of plotting His 

 Majesty's Gold-Fields. 



A few quiet days passed and we relaxed our vigil, 

 dumped the pan of molasses well back in the woods so 

 the swarm of flies feeding upon it could conduct their 

 symphony a safe distance from camp, and concluded 

 that Ursa Mater and Minors had sought other fields 

 of endeavour. 



We had just settled down to a pleasant round of trout 

 and bass fishing (for it was May), running the rapids, 

 swimming and Kodaking, with the bears but a faint 

 memory of several glorious days gone by, when a white, 

 bedraggled, and much irritated guide by the name 

 of Pat appeared at camp for breakfast. Upon being 

 questioned as to the cause of his woebegone appearance 

 and grouchy disposition, he exploded somewhat as 

 follows : 



" I was going up to repair my camp on the Seventh 

 Lake, and walked out from Caledonia yesterday after- 

 noon with a pack-basket of grub and some tools. I had 

 no gun. I built my little fire last night out the road 

 a piece by the brook, cooked the kittle, and laid down. 

 Along about ten or eleven o'clock something began 

 rattling my dishes, and I woke up and seen a bear not 

 ten feet away mauling my basket. There was quite a 

 bed of live coals where I had built the fire, so I jumped 

 up and kicked some hot cinders at the bear. Instead of 

 running she just circled around snarling. I didn't like 

 the way she acted, so piled on some dry pine chips and 

 soon had a big blaze goin'. The bear kept circlin' and 

 growlin', and it took me all my time to keep the fire be- 

 tween her and me. Then I heard a cub whine and 

 figured I better get off en the ground; so I watched my 



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