OF NORTH CAROLINA. 19S 



up as fast as it is possible they can dip tlieir paws 

 into the water. There is one thing more to he 

 considered of this creature, which is, that no man, 

 either christian or Indian, has ever killed a she 

 bear with young. 



It is supposed that the she bears, after concep- 

 tion, hide themselves in some secret and undiscov- 

 erable place till they bring forth their young, 

 which, in all probability, cannot be long ; other- 

 wise the Indians, who hunt the woods like dogs, 

 would, at some time or other, have found them 

 out. Bear hunting is a great sport in America, 

 both with the English and Indians. Spme years 

 ago there were killed iive hundred bears in two 

 counties of Virginia in one winter, and but two 

 she bears amongst them all, which were not with 

 young, as I told you of the rest. The English 

 have a breed of dogs fit for this sport, about the 

 size of farmers' curs, and, by practice, come to , 

 know the scent of a bear, which as soon as they 

 have found, they run him by the nose till they 

 come up with him and then bark and snap at him 

 till he trees, when the huntsman shoots him out 

 of the trees, there being, for the most part, two or 

 three with guns, lest the first should miss or not 

 quite kill him. Though they are not naturally 

 voracious, yet they are very fierce when wounded. 

 The dogs often bring him to a bay when wounded, 

 and then the huntsmen make other shots, perhaps 

 with the pistols that are stuck in their girdles. If 

 a dog is apt to fasten and run into a bear, he is 



