264 The Wilderness Hunter. 



with all that therein is, devouring everything eatable, 

 especially if sweet, and trampling into a dirty mess what- 

 ever they do not eat. The black bear does not average 

 more than a third the size of the grisly ; but, like all its 

 kind, it varies greatly in weight. The largest I myself 

 ever saw weighed was in Maine, and tipped the scale at 

 346 pounds ; but I have a perfectly authentic record of 

 one in Maine that weighed 397, and my friend, Dr. Hart 

 Merriam, tells me that he has seen several in the Adiron- 

 dacks that when killed weighed about 350. 



I have myself shot but one or two black bears, and 

 these were obtained under circumstances of no special in- 

 terest, as I merely stumbled on them while after other 

 game, and killed them before they had a chance either to 

 run or show fight 



