76 S PORTING ADVJZXTl'RKS 



the bushes? gradually, to take a glance about me, but the 

 moment my hat appeared above the shrubbery two bullets 

 went whizzing past me so close that I fancied I could feel 

 their wind on my face. I dodged back in a second, and yelled 

 out in stentorian tones what in the name of goodness such wise 

 men were firing at. A shout across the stream informed me 

 that I was mistaken for a bear, and on emerging from my 

 leafy covert, I asked if I looked like a bear. Two hunters 

 laughingly informed me that I did not when they saw the 

 whole of my body, but that my hat looked suspiciously like 

 the head of the animal in the distance. The mistake was a 

 natural one under the circumstances, but it came too near 

 being a fatal one to me to make its repetition pleasant. 



The hunt with the Indians may lead persons to think that 

 an angry bear even at its worst is no great foe after all, 

 and this would prove true were one well armed and ready to 

 meet it, but such is not always the case ; hence I would 

 suggest to those in pursuit of the animal to be cautious 

 at least, or disaster may follosv. It may not be able to do 

 a great deal of harm to a sturdy man, yet I have heard 

 so many well authenticated accounts of the injury it has 

 inflicted on them sometimes, that 1 believe them entitled 

 to the fullest credence. As examples, I may quote the follow- 

 ing incidents : A miner, who worked on the Lumni River, 

 had his cabin invaded one evening by a bear, which was 

 evidently attracted there by a deer that hung just inside 

 the door. The man on seeing the animal walk in so uncon- 

 cernedly yelled at it ; but before leaving, it seized a quarter of 

 the deer, and was moving away with it in the most uncere- 

 monious manner when the miner attacked it with an axe. 

 The bear turned at once and made a desperate light for life, 

 using its powerful claws and teeth whenever it could close 

 with the foe. The miner, after being severely bitten two or 

 three times, and having his clothes and flesh torn, got a fail- 

 blow with the sharp edge of the axe at its head, and this 

 stunned it. Following up his advantage, he got in three or four 

 more in a lew seconds, and boon had the satisfaction of seeing 



