BEAUTIFUL SCENERY IN WISCONSIN. 143 



only terminate in death ; for, once enraged and drawn 

 into hostilities, his combativeness increases, never 

 lessening till life is extinct. However, instances have 

 been known where Bruin has not had these excuses for 

 becoming aggressor ; but generally these bellicose indi- 

 viduals have been an old ladj r engaged in imparting to 

 her progeny her extensive knowledge of the world, 

 some gallant lover worshipping at the shrine of his 

 devotion, or possibly a half-starved unfortunate de- 

 sirous of gaining some retreat where appetite could 

 be gratified. 



The first bear I ever shot was doubtless suffering 

 from the last. I will narrate the circumstance. In 

 the State of Wisconsin, near Green River, there are 

 situated some beautiful retired sheets of water. These 

 spots had long enchanted me with their attractiveness, 

 for game abounded in their vicinity ; the scenery was 

 beautiful, and, above all, you were entirely free from 

 man's intrusion. Could it be wondered, then, that 

 seldom a week passed that I did not find time to 

 visit them ? Summer had unconsciously glided into 

 autumn, the dark, dense covering of the trees had 

 changed to all the gaudy hues of the rainbow, and the 

 enlarged ripples on the water, and occasional sighings 

 of the wind, predicted that at no distant period another 

 shroud than the green grasses would cover the surface 

 of the earth. 



On the day in question, when I left my couch, im- 

 mense numbers of wild fowl were migrating south- 

 ward evident signs that cold weather had made its 

 appearance north. So, hoping possibly to kill a swan, 

 or a scarce specimen of wild duck, I determined to 

 visit nry lakes once more ere they were frozen up. 



