160 THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 



by the whole pack with a chorus of canine music that 

 would cheer the heart of a fox-hunter. The hunters 

 do not scruple to throw down the rails, and passing out, 

 follow the pack at full speed towards the bear's den, 

 which is usually not very far off— the bear being a lazy 

 brute, who objects to living at any great distance from 

 the field which affords him food. If the dogs come 

 upon him before he is able to make his escape from 

 the stronghold, he sits up on his hind legs and regards 

 them with just the defiant expression of countenance 

 assumed by Fitz James when surprised by the clansmen 

 of Koderick Dhu. The dogs generally decline his 

 ' Come one come all ! ' invitation, and content them- 

 selves with carrying on a light infantry warfare. The 

 hunters have not much difficulty in following the pack, 

 and each man, dismounting, rushes forward anxious for 

 the honour of the first shot at the bear. At other times, 

 when the game is more wide awake, the quarry puts 

 his best leg out, and forces his way at full speed into 

 the most impenetrable recesses of the cane-brake. The 

 canes bend beneath his weight an4 close up again, 

 making it very difficult for the less heavy dogs to follow, 

 and altogether impossible for the hunters who have to 

 be guided in their course by the baying of the hounds. 

 I have known the bear escape unscathed, through 

 forcing himself head foremost by sheer weight and 

 strength into a dense jungle. This he will often do 

 imless closely pursued, for although he has such a 



