190 
AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 
fore-paw of the Bear when cooked presents a striking resemblance to the 
hand of a child or young person, and we have known some individuals to 
be hoaxed by its being represented as such. 
Perhaps the most acrid vegetable eaten by the Bear is the Indian turnip 
( Arum, triphyllum), which is so pungent that we have seen people almost 
distracted by it, when they had inadvertently put a piece in their 
mouth. 
The Black Bear is a remarkably swift runner when first alarmed, 
although it is generally “ treed,” that is, forced to ascend a tree, when 
pursued by dogs and hunters on horseback. We were, not very long since, 
when on an expedition in the mountains of Virginia, leisurely making our 
way along a road through the forest after a long hunt for deer and turkeys, 
with our gun thrown behind our shoulders and our arms resting on each 
end of it, when, although we had been assured there were no Bears in that 
neighbourhood, we suddenly perceived one above us on a little acclivity at 
one side of the road, where it was feeding, and nearly concealed by the 
bushes. The bank was only about fifteen feet high, and the Bear not more 
than twenty paces from us, so we instantly disengaged our gun, and cocking 
both barrels, expected to “ fill our bag” at one shot, but at the instant and 
before we could fire, the Bear, with a celerity that astonished us, disap- 
peared. We rushed up the bank and found the land on the top nearly 
level for a long-distance before us, and neither very thickly wooded nor 
very bushy - but no Bear w r as to be seen, although our eye could penetrate 
the woods for at least two hundred yards. After the first disappointing 
glance around, we thought Bruin might have mounted a tree, but such was 
not the case, as on looking everywhere nothing could be seen of his black 
body, and we were obliged to conclude that he had run out of sight in the 
brief space of time we occupied in ascending the little bank. 
As we were once standing at the foot of a large sycamore tree on the 
borders of a long and deep pond, on the edge of which, in our rear, there 
was a thick and extensive “ cane-brake,” we heard a rushing roaring noise, 
as if some heavy animal was bearing down and passing rapidly through 
the canes, directly towards us. We were not kept long in suspense, for in 
an instant or two, a large Bear dashed out of the dense cane, and plunging 
into the pond without having even seen us, made off with considerable 
speed through the water towards the other shore. Having only bird-shot 
in our gun we did not think it worth while to call his attention to us by 
firing at him, but turned to the cane-brake, expecting to hear either dogs 
or men approaching shortly. No further noise could be heard, however, 
and the surrounding woods were as still as before this adventure. We 
supposed the Bear had been started at some distance, and that his pursuers, 
