80 SPOX TING A D I 'ENTURES 



of tlic gaoler. I overtook it in a feu- minutes, the dogs having 

 brought it to bay by nipping at it whenever it attempted to 

 escape, and on a good opportunity being presented I let it have 

 both barrels at short range in rapid succession, and it fell dead 

 in its track. On looking for where I hit it the first time, I 

 found that the bullet had passed through the anterior portion 

 of the windpipe from side to side. This was what had saved 

 me. as its breathing was too difficult to enable it to run rapidly, 

 or even to climb well. 



While out on that hunt we killed three adults and two cubs, 

 but I took excellent care to avoid getting to close quarters 

 with them, and to feel assured that they were dead before 1 

 tried any familiarity. 



I have had some hunts after this animal which had their 

 ludicrous side also. I was, on one occasion, running down the 

 Chehalis River in a canoe, my companions being an Indian 

 gondolier and a sporting Esculapius who was the surgeon on 

 an Indian reservation. While rushing down in a swift current 

 that bowled us along at the rate of five miles an hour, we came 

 suddenly upon a young bear swimming across the stream. 

 The doctor became excited at once on seeing it, and ordered 

 the red man to ply the paddle vigorously and get alongside 

 before it could reach the shore. lie complied, and we were 

 soon ranged beside it, but as we had no weapons except pocket 

 revolvers, and the animal was young, the doctor insisted that 

 it ought not to be shot, but be captured alive. All parties 

 being willing, the doctor, who was in the bow of the canoe, 

 attempted to throw a rope around its head, and in his efforts to 

 do so tilted the boat somewhat, lost his balance, and \vent head- 

 long into the water on top of the bear. The latter gave a growl 

 of terror and attempted to break away, but it somehow got 

 entangled in the rope, so that when the disciple of Esculapius 

 rose to the surface he found himself clinging to one end of the 

 cord and the bear to the other, and both pulling in opposite 

 directions. The scene was so ludicrous that even the stoical 

 gondolier laughed heartily and shouted, " Closk doctol ; hyaa 

 clos/i" well done, doctor; very well done. As the current was 

 carrying them down the stream, and the doctor was puffing 



