ENCOUNTER WITH A BEAR. 255 



merous upon the mountains, about ten miles southeast of 

 Burgos; and I killed several which were uncommonly 

 large and ferocious. One day, my brother Pedro a reat 

 hunter he is, senors, though not quite as sure a shot as 

 myself started in pursuit of a bear, which had carried off 

 a poor shepherd's largest ewe. We were armed with short 

 guns, like the one you see standing in the corner, yonder, 

 leaning against the wall," (we saw it, and a miserable 

 piece of ordnance it was ; and accompanied by a bold dog, 

 whom we called Wolf, on account of. his striking resem- 

 blance to that ravenous animal) " a wonderful dog, that, 

 senors, heart like a lion. We started upon the track of 

 the bear, about dawn, and followed it up the mountain, in 

 an oblique direction, over crags and precipices, and through 

 some of the thickest underwood I have seen, until late in the 

 afternoon when we suddenly came upon the animal, 

 sitting erect upon a lofty crag, overlooking a torrent. 

 Across this torrent, a large oak had fallen, making a 

 natural bridge. The bear was sitting at the root of the 

 tree. The barking of Wolf gave us the first warning of 

 his presence, and he saw us at the same moment. As 

 quick as lightning, I leaped over the fallen tree, and fired 

 at the breast of the bear. The monster received the bullet 

 as he sprang towards me and reared on his hind legs. It 

 did not check him for a moment. My brother then fired, 

 but the bullet glanced over the head of the bear and the 



