26 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



though he is on firm ground, he would have 

 little chance against a man on snow shoes over 

 new fallen snow. At every step he took, the 

 bear's weight would make him sink almost to 

 the shoulder, and, however great his strength 

 and pluck, he would soon be exhausted in 

 such heavy going as this. But Captain H. 

 knew the nature of his game too well to try 

 to run him to bay at first, and contented himself 

 with keeping the bear always moving in front 

 of him, sticking like fate to the weary beast's 

 track, sleeping on it at night and resuming it 

 again at dawn, until on the second or third 

 day, when he viewed his game, the bear was 

 almost too dead beat to crawl. 



When at last neither shouts nor the near 

 approach of his enemy could get another trot 

 out of ' old Michael,' when he had been fairly 

 run to a standstill, the time had arrived to 

 use the spear, and, risky as it may appear, 

 Captain H. used to make very light of the 



