426 ADVANTAGE OF BEING CROPPED. 



being cut very short, and the fangs of the beast thus readily 

 passing through it, I escaped being scalped, as would in- 

 evitably have happened, had it been worn long after the 

 fashion of the Swedish peasantry. 



Happily, however, I was so little disabled by the injuries 

 inflicted on my person by the bear, that I contrived to make 

 my way the same evening to my quarters, a distance of 

 seven or eight miles, and with the exception of the last two, 

 when I obtained a horse, either on Skidor or on foot. But 

 for a long time subsequently I suffered much from my 

 wounds, and weakness arising from loss of blood; not 

 sufficiently so, however, as to prevent me though it was 

 certainly a great effort from taking the field again four 

 days afterwards. 



