158 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



Maine ; the night was lit by an occasional star, struggling 

 through the rapidly fleeting dark clouds for an opportunity 

 to show the earth its brilliancy. I was alone, and, save 

 the splash of my paddle and the occasional unearthly call 

 of the loon, all was still as the grave. A narrow passage 

 I traversed, to avoid the weeds, made me hug the land so 

 close that occasionally the limb of a tree would brush 

 against my birch-bark canoe. With a suddenness that made 

 my heart's blood run cold, a yell from some unknown 

 beast, loud, shrill, and unearthly, so close that I almost 

 believed for a moment that the cause was within reach, 

 echoed from tree to tree, and died away, reverberating in 

 the distance. Again and again it was repeated. For 

 awhile I remained motionless, till the cool breeze recalled 

 me to myself, and I proceeded homewards. Next morning 

 I returned to examine the place. A veteran hunter was 

 my companion, and we found such convincing proof that 

 bears had been there, that one of them I feel certain pro- 

 duced the weird-like sound that had caused me so much 

 alarm, my companion assuring me that at the period the 

 sexes come together, if rivals are in the way, the call 

 or note of defiance is quite dissimilar from their general 

 voice. 



Early in spring the young are born. At first they are 

 very small. In six weeks they are able to accompany their 

 mother, who cares for them with the greatest solicitude 

 and attention, hauling the logs on one side for the cubs to 

 obtain the coveted grubs and larvae underneath ; pulling 

 down the uppermost branches that produce fruit; and if 

 by accident the young should be placed in a position of 



