94 NEWFOUNDLAND 



What would I not have oriven for a httle Norwes^ian elk- 

 hound at that moment. The bear may have gone a mile 

 or two, or she may have been lying dead within a hundred 

 yards of us ; at any rate we were now incapable of following 

 her, so reluctantly we fought our way back to the river, and 

 tried to make as light of the loss as possible. 



The black bear is still fairly numerous in the unfrequented 

 parts of Newfoundland, but every year sees a diminution in 

 their numbers owing to the attacks of the Indians. In 1822 

 Cormack describes them as abundant, and speaks of the 

 numerous "bear-roads" which he found in all parts of the 

 interior. Now such paths are rarely seen. Every year in 

 the month of September the Indians repair to the high look- 

 outs, and watch the open tracts of country covered with 

 blueberry patches. Here they spy, stalk, and shoot the bears 

 which come to feed at dawn and sunset. In this manner 

 they kill from three to nine bears apiece, and few escape 

 except those which live almost exclusively in the forests. In 

 years when berries are scarce, many bears repair to the edge 

 of the salt water and feed on caplin and fish refuse. Some- 

 times they attack the farmers' sheep, and I know of one 

 instance in which a bear swam a mile to an island in Fortune 

 Bay, and killed twenty-five sheep in a single night. They are 

 slow and poor swimmers, and the Esquimaux of Labrador go 

 so far as to say that they cannot swim at all. But this is 

 incorrect. About the end of April the black bear emerges 

 from its winter retreat in some rocky cave or old tree stump, 

 and commences to feed on roots and leaves of various trees. 

 In May the female brings forth her two young ones, and 

 tends them carefully until the autumn, when they shift for 

 themselves. They keep closely to the woods until July, when 



