TRAGICAL EVENT. 337 



was loose a favourable circumstance, as our movements 

 could therefore be conducted more silently we thought it 

 best, in the first instance, to attempt stealing upon him 

 whilst in his lair; and to give us the better chance, we 

 left our Skidor at the Ho-Hassja ; for when the ground is 

 broken, and the cover thick and tangled, one can move 

 about with much more facility on foot, than if encumbered 

 with those implements. On this occasion, owing to the 

 unusual mildness of the temperature, Skidor could not, 

 indeed, have been used to advantage. 



According to the testimony of the men at the subsequent 

 trial, it must have been about ten o'clock when we reached 

 the Ring. The weather was very thick and hazy, and sleet 

 was falling, so that objects were not very clearly observable 

 at any considerable distance. It was one of those melan- 

 choly days so depressive to the spirits, common with us 

 in England in the winter time, but rare in more northern 

 climes at that season of the year. 



On this, as on similar occasions, when attempting to steal 

 on a bear, Elg kept closely at my heels, for the purpose of 

 handing me his rifle, if needed ; and Atter, the soldier, 

 followed in his footsteps. We adopted this plan in pre- 

 ference to walking abreast, as well because in the event 

 of our falling in with the bear it gave me, individually, a 

 better chance of getting a shot, as that the odds would have 

 been more against him ; for, instead of a single barrel, to 

 which, had Elg been alone, the beast would have been exposed, 

 he was now pretty sure of getting the contents of my two 

 barrels, and not improbably of a third. 



In this order we moved slowly and cautiously forward, 

 peering under every boulder, and threading the most tangled 



VOL. i. z 



