SWIMMING WITH A BEAR. 61 



much bigger than an ordinary dog; but he 

 is numerous, and he, too, is a nuisance. 



Dog? Why not set the dog on him? Let 

 me tell you. The California dog is a lazy, 

 degenerate cur. He ought to be put with 

 the extinct animals. He devotes his time 

 and his talent to the flea. Not six months 

 ago I saw a coon, on his way to my fish-pond 

 in the pleasant moonlight, walk within 

 two feet of my dog's nose and not disturb 

 his slumbers. 



We hope that it is impossible ever to 

 have such a thing as hydrophobia in Cali 

 fornia. But as our dogs are too lazy to 

 bite anything, we have thus far been un 

 able to find out exactly as to that. 



This last-named bear has a big head and 

 small body; has a long, sharp nose and 

 longer and sharper teeth than any of the 

 others; he is a natural thief, has low in 

 stincts, carries his nose close to the ground, 

 and, wherever possible, makes his road 

 along on the mossy surface of fallen trees 

 in humid forests. He eats fish dead and 



