THIRTY TEARS A HUNTER. l7o 



at the same time. He soon learned to follow when- 

 ever I pulled upon the string, and spoke his name. 

 After this he would perform any thing I ordered, if 

 I could make him understand what I wished. By 

 persuasion they may be taught almost any thing that 

 a brute can learn, but will not be driven. Sometimes 

 however, when they understand what is required of 

 them, and refuse to obey, it may be necessary to use 

 the lash. When a complete mastery is once obtained 

 over it, the bear is as easily taught as any animal I 

 ever attempted to train. They are very irritable 

 when touched from behind, and on one occasion as I 

 was leading my bear through a gate, he hung back, 

 and a person struck him behind with a stick, when 

 he sprang forward and bit me severely in the leg. 

 At another time, while in the house, teaching him to 

 walk backward, he struck against a table, when he 

 seized me by the the hand. He instantly lay down 

 and began to cry, knowing the whipping which 

 awaited him. My bear will allow any animal to 

 approach him, but if they should touch him behind, 

 he resents it at once. In the months of July and 

 August, when the weather is very warm, bears re- 

 quire water in which to wallow. They subsist, during 

 the early spring, upon the worms which they find 

 under the bark of dead trees, as well as under stones 

 and pieces of wood. When the grass and herbage 

 begins to sprout they feed upon that, but at this sea- 

 son they are always savage with hunger, and will 

 attack any animal which affords a prospect of a 

 meal. It is at this season that they are the most 

 *I5 



