120 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



noise whereof the beare ariseth, and in his fearefull rage 

 runneth too and fro as if he sawe fire : the young men, 

 armed, make unto him, the beare, looking round about, 

 taketh the plainest way toward the rope hung full of 

 feathers, which, being stirred, and haled by those that 

 holde it, maketh the beare much affraid with the ratling 

 and hissing thereof, and so flying from that side halfe 

 mad, runneth into the nets, where the keepers entrap 

 him so cunningly, that he seldome escapeth. 



" When a Beare is set upon by an armed man, he 

 standeth upright, and taketh the man betwixt his fore- 

 feet, but he, being covered all over with yron plates can 

 receive no harm, and then may easily, with a sharpe 

 knife or dagger pierce thorough the heart of the beast. 



" If a shee beare having young ones be hunted, shee 

 driveth her Whelpes before her, untill they be wearied, 

 and then, if she be not prevented, she climbeth uppon a 

 tree, carrying one of her young in her mouth, and the 

 other on her backe. A Beare will not willingly fight 

 with a man, but, being hurt by a man, he gnasheth his 

 teeth, and licketh his forefeete, and it is reported by an 

 Ambassador of Poland, that when the Sarmatians finde 

 a beare, they inclose the whole Wood by a multitude 

 of people standing not above a cubit one from another ; 

 then cut they downe the outmost trees, so that they 

 raise a Wall of wood to hemme in the Beares ; this being 

 effected, they raise the Beare, having certaine forkes in 

 their hands, made for that purpose, and, when the Beare 

 approacheth, they, (with those forkes) fall upon him, one 

 keeping his head, another one leg, other his body, and 

 so, with force, muzzle him and tie his legges, leading 

 him away. The Rhaetians use this policy to take Wolves 

 and Beares ; they raise up great posts, and crosse them 



