CHAPTER XXIII 



THE anecdote of a bear in the last chapter is not the 

 only instance of a similar nature that I have experienced. 

 On several occasions I have been face to face, or nearly 

 so, with a bear, under more or less ludicrous circum- 

 stances; notably in Canada, and in the Sierra Nevada 

 some years later, and I have always noted that the 

 astonishment of the bear at being suddenly confronted 

 with man was very great. There are instances, however, 

 in which bears suddenly surprised have at once attacked 

 the intruder; it should therefore be remembered that 

 no wild animal of a ferocious nature is to be trifled with, 

 and I should always deprecate anything approaching 

 foolhardiness. The point is this : that neither bears 

 nor jaguars, nor pumas, as a rule, voluntarily attack man 

 unless they think themselves threatened ; but one of the 

 surest means of provoking an attack is to show signs of 

 fear, or a desire to get away. It is best to stand your 

 ground until the animal has retired some distance. If 

 it finds that you do not move, or interfere with it, it 

 will presently make off as fast as it can. Attempt to 

 run yourself, and it is twenty to one that it will imme- 

 diately spring upon you. It is best, in the backwoods, 

 never to move about without your firearms, for you 

 can never tell when you are likely to want them. After 

 a few years' experience in the wildernesses of America I 

 adopted this rule myself, and it is a strange circumstance 

 that on the very few occasions on which I broke it, and 



269 



