54 



HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



made a short rush at the nearest dog, uttering a pecuhar sort of 

 rumbling growl or grunt as he did so. During one of these charges 

 I saw him for an instant not more than tw^enty feet from me, and 

 shot him through the lungs with a bullet from mv 45-70 Winchester. 

 He immediately rose on his hind feet and turned towards me, receiv- 

 ing another ball in the chest as he did so. Over he went, with the 

 whole lot of dogs on him as he fell. I shot him once again, fearing 

 that he might still be able to injure the dogs, but it was not needed. 



This bear was an old male and very fat. He weighed about 

 five hundred pounds (estimated) and measured six feet tw^o inches 

 from nose to tail (straight line), and eight feet six inches from hind 

 claw to nose : around the chest he measured a trifle over fiftv-four 

 inches ; one of his front claws w^as three and a quarter inches long 

 (measured on the curve) ; altogether, he was a pretty fair Florida 

 bear. 



