THE COMMON BEAR, 95 



Methods of taking bears. 



spear, or club, the Kamtschadale goes in quest 

 of the peaceful animal, in his calm retreat; who, 

 meditating no attack, and only solicitous for his 

 own defence, gravely takes the faggots which his 

 persecutor brings him, and with them, chokes up 

 the entrance to his den." The mouth of the ca- 

 vern being thus closed, the hunter bores a hole 

 through the top, and transfixes his defenceless 

 foe with perfect security. 



Sometimes they lay a board driven full of iron 

 hooks, in the bear's track ; placing near it some- 

 thing heavy, which the animal must throw down 

 as he passes. Alarmed by this, he runs upon the 

 board with greater force than he would otherwise 

 do, and finding one of his paws fixed by the 

 hooks, he attempts to free himself by striking it 

 forcibly with the other; but his wounds and pain 

 being now increased, he rises on his hind feet, 

 and thus brings the board before his eyes ; which 

 so perplexes him, that he throws himself on the 

 ground, and bellows with agony till his violent 

 struggles at last destroy him. 



In some parts of Siberia, the hunters erect a 

 scaffold of several balks laid over each other; 

 which fall altogether, and crush the bear, upon 

 his stepping on the trap placed underneath. 

 Another method is, to dig pits; in which a 

 smooth and sharp-pointed post is fixed into the 

 ground, rising about a foot above the bottom. 

 The pit is carefully covered with sods; and across 

 thti track of the bear, a small rope with an elas- 



