262 THE BEAR. 



a sheep bleating, while the hyaena devoured the remainder 

 of his dinner. 



When our forefathers first settled in America, bears 

 were common in all parts of the country along the Atlantic. 

 Many adventures with them took place, some of which are 

 recorded in the histories of the times. The following is 

 said to have occurred at a later period : 



Some years since, when the western part of New- York 

 was in a state of nature, and wolves and bears were not 

 afraid of being seen, some enterprising pilgrim had erected 

 and put in operation a saw-mill, on the banks of the Gen- 

 esee. One day as he was sitting on the log, eating his 

 bread and cheese, a large black bear came from the woods 

 towards the mill. The man, leaving his luncheon on the 

 log, made a spring, and seated himself on a beam above ; 

 when the bear, mounting the log, sat down with his rump 

 towards the saw, which was in operation, and satisfied 

 his appetite on the man's dinner. After a little while, the 

 saw approached near enough to interfere with the feathers 

 on Bruin's back, and he hitched along a little and kept on 

 eating. Again the saw came up, and scratched a little 

 flesh. The bear then whirled about, and throwing his 

 paws around the saw, held on till he was mangled through 

 and through, when he rolled off, fell through into the flood, 

 and bled to death. 



