238 BLOCK UP THE ENTEANCE. 



old thatcli, whilst the other man and myself 

 kept watch at the entrance of the cave. 



When they returned we pushed a quantity 

 of the dry grass into the hole, and set it on 

 fire, after having ascertained, as well as the 

 snow would permit, that there was no other 

 outlet to the cavern. Whether the smoke 

 all escaped outside, or whether the bears are, 

 like the Puharries, proof agamst its effects, 

 I will not hazard a guess, but in spite of the 

 pungency of the dense volumes of smoke 

 emitted by the burning thatch, the attempt 

 to smoke out Bruin was a complete failure, 

 and the interior of the cave remained as 

 quiet as before. Upon due consideration, I 

 now thought that the best thing to do was 

 to close up the entrance with large stones, 

 so that we could afterwards ascertain 

 whether the bear came out or died inside ; 

 for I still fancied that he must be severely 

 hit to have bled so freely. The hole being 

 blocked up, directions were given to the 

 villager to revisit the spot in four or five 

 days, and if he found everything in the same 



