COMMON BEAR. 
399 
attached to each other. The hunters never dare to 
tire at a young one while the dam is on the spot ; 
for, if the cub happens to be killed, she becomes 
so enraged^ that she will either avenge herself, or 
die in the attempt. If, on the contrary, the mother 
should be shot, the cubs will continue by her side 
long after she is dead, exhibiting the most poig- 
nant affliction. A man nearly lost his life, a few 
years ago, in Hungary, by firing at a young bear 
in the presence of its dam, who had indeed been 
concealed from his sight by some bushes ; for, at 
one blow with her paw, she brought off a great 
part of his scalp. 
This animal seldom uses its teeth as weapons of 
defence, but generally strikes its adversary very 
strongly with its fore paws, like a cat ; and, if 
possible, seizes him between its paws, and presses 
him to its breast with such force, as almost instantly 
to suffocate him. 
The most usual way of killing the bears, is by 
means of fire-arms or arrows. The Laplanders 
easily overtake them in their snow shoes, and 
knock them down with clubs ; but they generally 
first shoot them, and then dispatch them with 
spears. 
In some parts of Siberia, the hunters erect a 
scaffold of several balks laid over each other ; 
which fall altogether, and crush the bear, upon 
his stepping on the trap placed underneath. Ano- 
ther method is to dig pits, in which a smooth, 
solid, and very sharp-pointed post is fixed into 
the ground, rising about a foot above the bottom. 
The pit is carefully covered aver with sods : and 
across the track of the bear, a small rope with an 
elastic figure is placed. As soon as the bear touches 
the rope, the wooden figure starts loose ; and the 
affrighted animal, endeavouring to save himself by 
flight, falls with a violent force into the pit, and ' : § 
