A BLACK BEAR HUNT 185 



truth of the following sentences, penned by Captain Campbell 

 Hardy (Forest Life in Acadie), came forcibly home to me : 



' To understand the true character of the American forest 

 and read its mysteries aright, we must plunge boldly into its depths 

 and live under its shelter through all the phases of the seasons, 

 leaving far behind the sound of the settler's axe and the tinkling 

 of his cattle-bells. The strange feelings of pleasure attached 

 to a life in the majestic solitudes of the pine forests of North 

 America cannot be attained by a merely marginal acquaintance 

 such as is gleaned along the roadside or from the edges of the 

 cleared lands.' 



