THE KING OP THE WILDERNESS. 191 



In the summer of 1881 the httle propeller Ganou- 

 skie, which traveled through Lake George at that 

 time, while passing the mountain point known as An- 

 thony's Nose, ran down a large bear which was swim- 

 ming across the lake (nearly a mile wide at this part), 

 and one of the passengers dispatched hira with a 

 blow from an axe. 



The bear, if he is in good condition, is an excel- 

 lent swimmer, and a matter of a mile or so is no 

 arduous undertaking. When he is fat his specific 

 gravity is not much greater than that of water ; there- 

 fore he can confine his efforts to propulsion. Several 

 years later than the occurrence just related, while the 

 steamer Horicon was passing the rocky ridge which 

 borders the lake at the foot of Black Mountain (at 

 that time burned bare by forest fires), a large black 

 bear was seen by the passengers standing on the 

 verge of a precipice ; he immediately disappeared on 

 the nearer approach of the steamboat. 



The time when bears den up for the winter de- 

 pends entirely upon the mildness or severity of the 

 season ; the long winter nap, however, is not pro- 

 found. Bruin is not overparticular about the char- 

 acter of his retreat, provided it offers sufficient 

 shelter from wind and weather. A big hole scooped 

 out with his ponderous paws beneath some fallen 

 tree, a rocky cave on a mountain knoll, or even a 



