138 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



certainly destroy a man, Bruin will arise uninjured, 

 shake himself, and trot off as if nothing had hap- 

 pened. 



The vitality of the bear is immense. His powers of 

 destruction when wounded are equally so. So, gentle 

 reader, if it should be your fortune to go bear hunting, 

 pray be careful if you approach them when wounded. 

 A sportsman's maxim, that should never be forgotten, 

 is, "always load your gun before you move from where 

 it was discharged, and never let the temptations or 

 excitement of the moment permit you to hurry when 

 performing this useful duty/' 



A great many bears have been killed with the knife 

 only, but the person who performs so dangerous a feat 

 must truly be fool-hardy and reckless of consequences, 

 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 would be fearfully mauled, or very pos- 

 sibly disabled for life. 



The black bear in a state of captivity is extremelv 

 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, 



