178 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 
He has a brownish muzzle and a white diamond- 
shaped patch on his breast. Sometimes he is brown, 
or red, or yellow, or even white. Not so wise as the 
wolf, or so fierce as the panther, yet the blackbear 
has outlived them both. “When in doubt, run!” 
is his motto; and like Descartes, the wise blackbear 
founds his life on the doctrine of doubt. As for the 
unwise — they are dead. To be sure, even this sav- 
ing rule of conduct would not keep him alive in these 
days of repeating rifles, were it not for his natural 
abilities. A bear can hear a hunter a quarter of a mile 
away, and scent one for over a mile if the wind be 
right. He may weigh three hundred pounds and be 
over two feet wide, yet he will slip like a shadow 
through tangled underbrush without a sound. 
Bear-cubs are born in January, after the mother 
bear has gone into winter quarters, blind and bare 
and pink, and so small that two of them can be held 
at once on a man’s hand. Bears mate every other 
year, and the half-grown cubs hibernate with the 
mother during their second winter. 
The blackbear is a good swimmer, and may some- 
times be seen crossing lonely lakes in the northern 
woods. At such times he is an ugly customer to 
tackle without a gun, as he will swim straight at a 
canoe and tip it over if possible. A friend of mine, 
while fishing in upper Canada, on a sluggish river 
between two lakes, saw a bear swimming well ahead 
of the canoe. He began to paddle with all his might 
to overtake him, but to his surprise seemed to be mov- 
ing backwards. Looking around, he saw his guide, 
