LAPLAND. 115 



Every man has his hobby, from which, if once 

 mounted, it is hard to shake him off; and the 

 hobby of these settlers is bear-hnnting. I have sat 

 by the hour and listened to hairbreadth escapes 

 and incidents of the chase — no doubt half of them 

 lies, but still with some truth at the bottom — and 

 I could not help feeling that there is something 

 manly in the way that they attack such an animal 

 single-handed. But if any of my readers wish 

 to know more of the habits and chase of Bruin, 

 I will refer them to Lloyd's " Northern Field 

 Sports" — a book written by one who has killed 

 more bears than any man in Sweden, and a book, 

 moreover, which tells "the truth, the whole truth, 

 and nothing but the truth," rather an unusual 

 thing in a book on sporting. 



