416 THE BARRICADE. 



It happens also, when the cleft of a rock constitutes his den, 

 that the bear, so to say, incarcerates himself; for the moss, 

 which he sometimes places in quantities at the very entrance, 

 forms, when congealed, a barrier through which he cannot 

 readily force his way. Though it is probable the moss thus 

 drawn together by the bear, is only intended to serve as a tem- 

 porary bed, preparatory to retiring to his regular dormitory, 

 it is the general notion that he deposits it there to make his 

 quarters more snug during the winter months ; as also that 

 the custom is confined to females with cubs, or rather to 

 such as are about to have an addition to their families. 



Two days subsequent to the Chasse last spoken of, Elg 

 and I, not gaining intelligence of other bears, started on 

 Skidor with the dogs for a wild range of country to the 

 eastward of Lofskogsasen, in search of one of those beasts, 

 which was believed to harbour thereabouts. We were ac- 

 companied by two peasants, who as we anticipated passing 

 more than one night in the forest carried, together with an 

 axe, an ample supply of provisions. 



The first day our search proved unsuccessful ; but on the 

 morning of the second, and when beating a rather thinly 

 wooded knoll, the dogs opened in a way that convinced me they 

 had fallen in with a bear, or other noxious animal. I hastened 

 to the spot where the dogs were challenging, but could see 

 nothing; neither did they seem to be sensible whence the 

 taint they had caught proceeded. Presently, however, I noticed 

 a chink, as it were amongst the rocks, but on looking down 

 found it apparently untenanted. From its very confined 

 dimensions, indeed, it seemed hardly capable of containing 

 any bulky animal. In this cavity, or rather in an interior 

 chamber, which I had not previously observed, the bear, as 



