400 BEAR-SHOOTING IN TRANSYLVANIA. 



A violent storm, succeeded by a striking change of the 

 temperature, now brought the summer to a close. Cool days 

 followed, the foliage changed its colour, and autumn quickly 

 made its appearance. On the morning of the 23rd we ob- 

 served with pleasure how very much colder it had become, 

 while favourable reports of tracks came from various localities, 

 and the first woodcocks were seen in the Gb'rgeny valley. 



The beat selected adjoined the ground of the preceding 

 day, and, though rather small, was very thickly wooded with 

 young trees. The guns were posted, as they invariably are 

 when driving these lower woods, on a narrow path where 

 there was very little room for shooting. The beaters had 

 already come out at the centre and the right wing of the line 

 without having seen anything whatever; but on the left they 

 were still in the cover, and suddenly set up a tremendous 

 yelling. A young sportsman, Herr v. M., thinking that the 

 beat was finished, left his post, but hardly had he got up to 

 his neighbour when a big black bear broke just in front of 

 the beaters, and crossed at the very spot which he had just 

 quitted. There it stopped for a moment in the middle of the 

 path, but vanished into the opposite thickets before the 

 astounded sportsmen could unsling their rifles and fire. 



We now held a quick consultation as to what was to be 

 done, and decided to station ourselves on a hill in a rather 

 open copse, and to drive the wood into which the bear had 

 crossed along the slope. Unfortunately many of the beaters, 

 and even some of the keepers, did not know the ground, as it 

 lay over the March in the estate of Baron K., and was usually 

 driven in another way; so that they made a mistake, and 

 brought the bear out at a place where it was only heard but 

 not seen by the outside guns. The next three beats of the 

 day, which were made in pouring rain, were blank, in spite 

 of our having found the fresh tracks of three bears on the 

 soaking wet roads. 



