126 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



season produces; and, if in a country subject to a 

 severe winter, quietly sleeping through that portion 

 of the year when the winds, loaded with frost and 

 snow, whistle round his snug retreat ! The black bear 

 at one period was very widely distributed over the 

 North American continent. Its range now, on account 

 of the advance and increase of population, has been 

 much restricted ; still, wherever there are large tracks 

 of uncultivated ground, representatives of this species 

 will be found, whether in Canada or Labrador, Florida, 

 Georgia, or the Far West, until you reach the Rocky 

 Mountains, beyond which I have never heard of the 

 black bear being seen, the cinnamon bear ( Ursus cm- 

 namomus) and the grizzly bear (Ursus ferox) there 

 supplying his place, So numerous still are the black 

 bears in some parts of the United States that a 

 portion of each year is set aside by the squatters and 

 farmers for their capture, and large packs of curs, 

 specially trained to assist, are kept for this purpose; 

 and numerous instances are on record of thirty, or even 

 forty bears having in a couple of months fallen before 

 one hunter's rifle. The flesh, which is with justice 

 much prized, is either salted down or smoked for 

 future use ; while the pelt furnishes a bed, or is sold to 

 the traders, ultimately to be made into rugs for sleighs 

 or the coarser kinds of furs for women and children. 



