226 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap. 



my wrath, and of course, as I did not particularly want them, 

 I managed to make a good right and left, hitting both of 

 them through the heart. 



We fully expected to find the old bear at no great 

 distance in the brush, but although we spent three hours 

 trying to track her, or find any traces of blood, we never saw 

 a sign of anything. That is the great disadvantage of the 

 small-bores like the Mannlicher — hardly any blood comes 

 from the wound, whereas, if it had been a larger bullet, we 

 must have found a considerable blood-trail, as the beast must 

 have been very badly hit. I was much annoyed at losing 

 this bear, and swore that every black bear in the country 

 was bewitched, and that I would not shoot at another. 

 However, we had got the two cubs, and a very pretty pair 

 they were, but I almost regretted afterwards that I had 

 killed them. They were far too big to attempt to capture 

 alive, or we should have done so. 



The last day we remained in the old camp I happened 

 to meet Glyn while returning to the tents. We walked back 

 together, telling Pitka to lead the way, and to keep his eyes 

 open, as one never knows how and when you may come 

 upon a moose in the forest. Soon we reached a large open 

 clearing several hundred yards long. It was a marshy bit of 

 ground covered with tundra. As we were crossing this, a 

 cow moose, followed by a calf, dashed into the open and 

 crossed the clearing about lOO yards in front of us. Pitka, 

 as usual having his eyes glued to the ground, never saw the 

 moose until Glyn stepped up and seized him by the arm. 

 It was obvious that the cow was being chased by a bull, and 

 she must have travelled some distance, as the calf was 

 terribly beaten. Glyn whispered to me, saying he would 

 stay back with Pitka while I went on to try to intercept a bull 



