286 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 



son, and we have known some individuals to be 

 hoaxed by its being represented as such. 



Perhaps the most acrid vegetable eaten by the 

 bear is the Indian turnip, which is so pungent 

 that we have seen people almost distracted by it, 

 when they had inadvertently put a piece in their 

 mouth. 



The black bear is a remarkably swift runner 

 when first alarmed, although it is generally 

 " treed," that is, forced to ascend a tree, when 

 pursued by dogs and hunters on horsebact. We 

 were, not very long since, when on an expedition 

 in the mountains of Virginia, leisurely making 

 our way along a road through the forest after a 

 long hunt for deer and turkeys, with our gun 

 thrown behind our shoulders and our arms rest- 

 ing on each end of it, when, although we had 

 been assured there were no bears in that neigh- 

 bourhood, we suddenly perceived one above us 

 on a little acclivity at one side of the road, where 

 it was feeding, and nearly concealed by the 

 bushes. The bank was only about fifteen feet 

 high, and the bear not more than twenty paces 

 from us, so Ave instantly disengaged our gun, and 

 cocking both barrels, expected to "fill our bag" 

 at one shot, but at the instant and before we 

 could fire, the bear, with a celerity that astonished 

 us, disappeared. We rushed up the bank and 

 found the land on the top nearly level for a long 



