54 HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 
made a short rush at the nearest dog, uttering a peculiar sort of 
rumbling growl or grunt as he did so. During one of these charges 
I saw him for an instant not more than twenty feet,from me, and 
shot him through the lungs with a bullet from my 45-70 Winchester. 
He immediately rose on his hind feet and turned towards me, receiv- 
ing another ball in the chest as he did so. Over he went, with the 
whole lot of dogs on him as he fell. I shot him once again, fearing 
that he might still be able to injure the dogs, but it was not needed. 
This bear was an old male and very fat. He weighed about 
five hundred pounds (estimated) and measured six feet two inches 
from nose to tail (straight line), and eight feet six inches from hind 
claw to nose ; around the chest he measured a trifle over fifty-four 
inches ; one of his front claws was three and a quarter inches long 
(measured on the curve) ; altogether, he was a pretty fair Florida 
bear. 
