372 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



the Frazer, where the beautiful olalis are smothered in white 

 blossom, and where the great yellow swallow-tails and plum- 

 coloured Camberwell Beauties sail and sun themselves upon 

 the stone slides round the lake. 



But though the black bear affords an excellent excuse for 

 bolting out of town in spring-time, it cannot be said that he is 

 a very sporting beast. He hasn't got an ounce of ' fight ' in 

 him, and stalking is of course impossible in such districts as 

 those which he frequents. Even 'still hunting' is very nearly 

 useless in such timber as exists on this coast ; so that unless 

 you use hounds to hunt him with, your best chance of meeting 

 Ursus americanus is to take a canoe and paddle quietly up 

 untravelled streams, where fish are plentiful, or where in 

 autumn the berry bushes grow thickly. In spring you may get 

 a shot by watching woodland swamps where the skunk cabbage 

 grows, or hill-sides when the Indian potato is ripe, but you are 

 nearly as likely to have your chance if you are out early upon 

 the best trail in the country, which runs near such feeding 

 places, for the black bear appreciates a good road as much as 

 a man does, and always uses one when he can. 



In Eastern America the black bear is principally hunted 

 with hounds, and even here a good dog which will tree a bear 

 is useful ; but my own experience of such sport has been, that 

 in nine cases out of ten the hounds' music ceased just as I had 

 done the hardest mile on record up hill and over fallen timber, 

 and the hounds themselves turned up ten minutes later, meek 

 and dejected, their muzzles full of porcupine quills, which they 

 evidently expected me to pull out for them. 



Most of the skins sent in to Victoria from Alaska are taken 

 by trapping (by noose, gin, or deadfall), or by hunting with 

 dogs, between the time the bears leave their dens and the 

 time the snow leaves the river bottoms. It is a short season 

 and an uncertain one, but I am assured by those who have 

 tried it, that for a man who is a good goer upon snow-shoes, it 

 is excellent fun whilst it lasts. The dogs used for bears are of 

 every breed and combination of breeds, but perhaps the best 



