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 

 s 



