Quadrupeds. 3191 



necessity of a sure aim, as he very coolly and laconically remarked, if 

 we did not kill the bear, the bear would certainly kill us. 



Behold us then, each in his place of ambush, well hidden with 

 bushes, and shrubs, and long grass and broken rocks, awaiting the 

 approach of Bruin. The snow by which I was lying was marked in 

 all directions by the frequent track of bears, showing that here they 

 were in the habit of crossing the torrent. Above and below me the 

 torrent roared down the mountain-side ; and for some distance its 

 banks were bare of bushes, so that I could see well if the bear came 

 towards the snow. A large thick branch in front served as a steady 

 rest for my rifle ; and my position seemed most favourable both for 

 concealment and for sport. My hunting-knife was stuck in the snow 

 before me, ready for instant use ; my pistol ready cocked on a rock 

 close at hand; some fresh powder placed in the pan of my rifle (a 

 flint one) ; and then nothing remained to be done but to lie quiet and 

 to wait. And so I waited, hour after hour, until my patience was 

 nearly exhausted, and I began to think that the chance of a shot at a 

 bear, and the almost equal chance of becoming a prey to one, were 

 rather dearly bought at the expense of lying out for a night under the 

 snow, especially when the ground and bushes were soaked with rain, 

 which had fallen very heavily all the preceding day, and I was wet to 

 the skin. So the hours passed by slowly enough, and notwithstand- 

 ing the excitement of expecting the bear, it was certainly dull work 

 in which to be engaged alone during the night. Keeping as good a 

 look-out as the darkness would allow (for the night was cloudy, and 

 the summer being now far advanced, the nights were not so bright as 

 before) ; — now peering along the snow, which extended above me for 

 nearly a hundred yards, now narrowly scanning every stone upon the 

 opposite bank of the torrent ; — now trying to penetrate with my eyes 

 the gloom of the bushes and rocks before me ; — I began to get very 

 weary of my solitary watch, and was not sorry to hear the voices of 

 the beaters, as at first very faintly and far off, and soon nearer and 

 louder, they broke upon my ear : then a loud report was heard, which 

 caused me to start to my feet and seize my rifle, ready to rush down 

 the mountain towards the supposed scene of strife ; but a moment's 

 reflection convinced me it was not the report of a gun, but of the 

 pistol with which we had provided the beaters. 



Soon after this, and when I was now quite stiff with cold and lying 

 so many hours on the wet ground, a shout from the Captain and the 

 huntsman brought me across the snow, and we proceeded to descend 

 the mountain, as the drivers had done their work, and the bear had 



