HABITS OF THE BLACK BEAK. 151 



and in my belief such conduct is, except in cases of 

 emergency, most unjustifiable. For one who returns safe 

 in limb and skin from such a contest, the majority who 

 attempt it get fearfully mauled, or very possibly disabled. 



The black bear in a state of captivity is extremely 

 restless, and, when old, bad-tempered and treacherous, 

 more especially should he have been teased in his 

 youth; but when he roves the forest, free, he is the 

 laziest and most luxurious fellow, sleeping the greater 

 portion of his time, feeding on nuts or luscious fruits, 

 playing in the sun's heat with comrades, and seldom 

 quarrelling with his brethren. When passages of 

 arms take place, love is the cause, and the battle is 

 waged more in words than blows. 



Two or three years ago, in the autumn, about mid- 

 night, I was passing through a chain of lakes in the 

 State of Maine ; the night was lit by an occasional 

 star, struggling through the rapidly fleeting dark 

 clouds for an opportunity to show the earth its bril- 

 liancy. I was alone, and, save the splash of my paddle 

 and the occasional unearthly call of the loon, all was 

 still as the grave. A narrow passage I traversed, to 

 avoid the weeds, made me hug the land so close that 

 occasionally the limb of a tree would brush against 

 my birch-bark canoe. With a suddenness that made 

 my heart's blood run cold, a yell from some unknown 

 beast, loud, shrill, and unearthly, so close that I 

 almost believed for a moment that the cause was 

 within reach, echoed from tree to tree, and died away, 

 reverberating in the distance. Again and again it was 

 repeated. For awhile I remained motionless, till the 

 cool breeze recalled me to myself, and I proceeded 

 homewards. Next morning I returned to examine the 



