SCANDINAVIA 291 



or grubbing- about on the open hillocks. The writer has thus, in 

 nine seasons, sighted in the district which he leases, about thirty- 

 five miles by twenty-five, seven bears, including two cubs, and got 

 within range of five, his opportunities in this line being considerably 

 in excess of those which fall to the lot of most non-resident sportsmen. 

 When a bear has killed a domestic animal or an elk, there is just a 

 chance of obtaining a shot at the beast by watching at night near the 

 carcase, but in such a case it is more than probable that it will make 

 a circuit of the spot before returning to feed, get wind of the watcher 

 and make off. A she-bear with very young cubs, surprised before 

 she can conceal them, and a wounded bear, are apt to be dangerous ; 

 otherwise the beasts invariably fiy from the sight or scent of man, and 

 are watchful to a degree that makes it always difficult to approach 

 them. 



To the great bear drives (Sw. Skall) sometimes arranged in the 

 Swedish forests, in which several hundred beaters and many shooters 

 take part, and to the various methods of rousing and killing the bear 

 when hibernating beneath the snow in his lair (Nor. ///), I can only 

 allude and pass on ; but it may be mentioned that the daring litde 

 Lapps occasionally crawl into the snow-covered den, one man in front 

 carrying the rifle, and another behind a long rod at the end of which 

 is fixed a lighted candle. This he protrudes in front of his comrade, 

 who is thus enabled to see the sight of his rifie, and the bewildered, 

 blinking- bear, who must be shot dead before he has time to realise 

 the situation. A Lapp told the writer that once, at the very moment 

 of pulling the trigger, he saw the form of a second bear rear itself up 

 from behind a boulder which lay across the cave, and direcdy after the 



