HABITS OF THE EL A CK BEAR. \ 65 



truly bo fool-hardy and reckless of consequences, and in my 

 belief such conduct is, except in cases of emergency, most 

 unjustifiable. For one who returns safe in limb and skin 

 from such a contest, the majority who attempt it get fear- 

 fully mauled, or very possibly disabled. 



The black bear in a state of captivity is extremely rest- 

 less, and, when old, bad-tempered and treacherous, more 

 especially should he have been teased in his youth ; but 

 when he roves the forest, free, he is the laziest and most 

 luxurious fellow, sleeping the greater portion of his time, 

 feeding on nuts or luscious fruits, playing in the sun's heat 

 with comrades, and seldom quarreling with his brethren. 

 When passages of arms take place, love is the cause, and 

 the battle is waged more in words than blows. 



Two or three years ago, in the autumn, about midnight, 

 I was passing through a chain of lakes in the State of 

 Maine ; the night was lighted by an occasional star, strug- 

 gling through the rapidly fleeting dark clouds for an op- 

 portunity to show the earth its brilliancy. I was alone, 

 and, save the splash of my paddle and the occasional un- 

 earthly call of the loon, all was still as the grave. A nar- 

 row passage I traversed, to avoid the weeds, made me hug 

 the land so close that occasionally the limb of a tree would 

 brush against my birch -bark canoe. With a suddenness 

 that made my heart's blood run cold, a yell from some un- 

 known beast, loud, shrill, and unearthly, so close that I al- 

 most believed for a moment that the cause was within 

 reach, echoed from tree to tree, and died away, reverbera- 

 ting in the distance. Again and again it was repeated. 

 For a while I remained motionless, till the cool breeze re- 

 called me to myself, and I proceeded homeward. Next 

 morning I returned to examine the place. A veteran hunt- 

 er was my companion, and we found such convincing proof 

 that bears had been there, that one of them, I feel certain, 



