RENCOUNTER WITH A BEAR. 227 



by a tree at every hundred yards, more or less, hav- 

 ing a piece scooped out of its bark. The walking 

 was as bad as possible, for constantly we were de- 

 layed by giants of the forest who had been pros- 

 trated by the gales of the preceding winters. At 

 length, tired and frightfully worried by mosquitoes, 

 we reached a brook eight or ten feet in diameter, but 

 deep and sullen as a canal ; down this we pursued an 

 erratic course till between two lofty bluffs we came 

 upon a beautiful sheet of water of an area of about 

 forty acres. To fish it from the banks was impossi- 

 ble, for the sumac and cedar grew to its margin, 

 so that no other resource was left but to cut a num- 

 ber of cedar logs and form a raft. An hour or 

 more was lost in this operation, and when we had 

 launched out we found that nothing but the smallest 

 fry could be taken, although these were in such quanti- 

 ties that frequently we would have three or four rises 

 to a cast. For an hour or more we fished indefatiga- 

 bly, still nothing over a quarter of a pound rewarded 

 our labors, and when we landed for our pic-nic lunch 

 I determined to fish the stream with the hope of ob- 

 taining some heavier specimens. My friend, who felt 

 indisposed, either from the effects of the sun, or some 

 State-of-Maine whisky (which is warranted to kill as 



