SPRING-GUNS FOR BEARS. 155 



success. This is a method never practised by the 

 sportsman who trusts in his dog and his rifle ; but the 

 cultivators of the soil are often driven to it in self- 

 defence, to protect themselves from an animal which 

 not only eats a large quantity but destroys much more 

 than he devours. A sinole bear will do an immense 

 amount of mischief in one short night, trampling do^vn 

 and destroying as much as a quarter of an acre of 

 Indian corn or sui^ar-cane. 



The greatest ingenuity is required to set a spring- 

 gun with success ; it is necessary to understand, to 

 a certain extent, the mind of the four-footed foe ; 

 for the result of the slightest error or miscalculation 

 will be the loss of all the labour bestowed upon the 

 trap. In the first place the planter must know the 

 size of the robber, and if he has not actually been seen, 

 this information can be obtained only from the tracks 

 in the soil or the before-mentioned h'des on the trees. 

 This is the most important point, for on the size of the 

 bear to be killed depends the height at which the gun 

 must be placed. If set too low, the bear may escape 

 untouched ; if on the other hand it be pointed too 

 high, a slight wound only will be the consequence, and 

 ' Cuffy ' wall escape to the forest, perhaps to die of his 

 wound, perhaps to recover. Next the gun must be set 

 early in the morning, very soon after his last visit ; this 

 being necessary on account of the extraordinary keen- 

 ness of his scent. Unless the smell of human hands 



