RINGING HARES. 361 



which posture standing, as he did, upwards of seven feet* 

 in height he presented, as seen in the above sketch, a most 

 formidable appearance. 



Being unable to obtain intelligence of other bears, Elg 

 and myself amused ourselves during the succeeding few days 

 in the pursuit of feathered game such as the Capercali, the 

 Black Cock, and the Ripa (a species of grouse), all of which 

 were to be found hereabouts ; but from the state of the snow, 

 our success was not very great. 



We also picked up a Hare or two, of which there were a 

 good many. We were accustomed to ring them in the first 

 instance, and then to follow on their Spar, and shoot them 

 either on their seats, or subsequently when on foot. After a 

 recent fall of snow it is specially easy to ring a hare, as well 

 for the reason that he then seldom goes any distance from 

 his form, as that all his old tracks, which are numerous, and 

 apt to bewilder, are obliterated. This kind of sport, with a 

 rifle at least, is not uninteresting. 



In these our rambles, we occasionally saw the tracks both 

 of the Lynx and the Glutton ; but from my dogs not being 

 trained to those beasts, which is very needful to insure success, 

 we did not think it worth while to pursue them. 



At length we heard that in the early part of the winter a 

 large bear had been on foot at some sixty miles to the north- 

 east, and a good deal hunted, as well as somewhat wounded ; 

 but that owing to a heavy fall of snow, his tracks were 



* To some the height specified may seem exaggeration ; but out of curiosity 

 I recently, with the assistance of the keepers, took the dimensions of the large 

 brown bear now in the Zoological Gardens, which were as follows : height of 

 shoulder, stick measurement, three feet eleven inches ; height when upright, 

 from heel to crown, seven feet five inches; and height, when standing on 

 tip-toe, to point of nose, eight feet eleven inches. 



