HUNTING ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD MERRITT. 201 



not watched them ; but the moment I had finished load- 

 ing I looked up, and the bear had got clear of the dogs 

 and was pitching at me. She was not eight feet off. 

 I sprang and ran a short distance, every step of which 

 I could not help cringing, for I almost felt the embrace 

 of the bear, and expected every instant to see her huge 

 paws coming around me. As soon .as I dared to look 

 behind me. I found my faithful dogs had seized the bear, 

 and she had turned to fight them. This gave me the 

 very chance I wanted, and I let drive at her head, and 

 shot her square through. She died instantly." 



In that climate (Canada) the bears usually den up in 

 the winter, and lie in something of a torpid state. 

 During a thaw, they sometimes venture out, but that is 

 seldom. In warmer climates, they ramble more while 

 the snow is upon the ground. 



During those winter hunts, to find and kill the moose, 

 was quite an object with the hunters. The moose is an 

 animal similar to the deer or elk, except vastly larger. 

 Their color is dark gray. The horns of the male are 

 pronged, and very large in proportion to the size of 

 their bodies. The body is thick-set, tail short, and they 

 have a very large upper lip. Their usual- gait is a trot, 

 swinging their legs out so as to form a half circle in the 

 snow when it was three or four feet deep. " I have 

 often," says Merritt, " measured their steps in the snow, 

 and found them seven feet apart." A man, five and a 

 half feet high, could walk under the belly of a full 

 grown one. They usually bring two young at a time. 

 In winter, they herd together, and as the snow increases, 

 they form yards, living upon browse, the twigs and bark 



