THE FORESTS AND SPORT OF SIBERIA. 163 



smouldering tree-trunk fall throughout the night alike on the 

 hunter and his dogs, but a Siberian's fur hunting-coat can stand as 

 much as a Siberian dog's skin; and it is evident that a log like this 

 will give much more heat than a much larger free fire. It is to the 

 hole what the stove is to the room; it alone makes it possible for 

 the sportsman to camp out in the forest. 



In the gray dawn the huntsmen arise refreshed, have breakfast, 

 and go on their way. If they reach a good hunting-ground, which 

 is visited every winter, they stay as long as they think fit. Here 

 and there they find a log-hut built in previous years and still service- 

 able for shelter; in any case there are old and new fall-traps, 

 which have to be put in order and visited every morning. This 

 takes time, for the traps are often distributed over a wide range, 

 and so it may be that the company stay a week or more in one 

 part of the forest, and hunt it thoroughly, before they continue 

 their wanderings. 



On these hunting expeditions many Siberians pass the greater 

 part of the winter in the forest. Before he sets out, the huntsman 

 usually makes a bargain with a merchant. He promises the mer- 

 chant all the skins he gets at a certain average price, provided the 

 merchant will buy all without selection. If the hunter has good 

 luck he may, even nowadays, make enough out of it to keep him 

 alive, or at least to defray the expenses of the winter; usually, how- 

 ever, he has little recompense for his hardships and privations, and 

 no one less modest in his demands than the Siberian huntsman could 

 make it a means of livelihood. 



Hunting the bear is regarded by the West Siberians as the most 

 honourable and the most arduous kind of sport. For in this region 

 Bruin is by no means the good-natured, simple creature he still is 

 here and there in East Siberia; he is rather, as in most regions, a 

 rough, uncouth fellow, who usually runs away from man, but who, 

 when wounded or driven into a corner, will show fight savagely 

 and prove himself exceedingly formidable. In spite of all persecu- 

 tion, he is still far from extermination; his occurrence may be spoken 

 of as frequent, or, at any rate, as not uncommon. Always and every- 

 where, however, he goes his own way, and does not too often cross 



