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had either bivouacked on the ground, or quartered at Sätterwalls, their provision being exhausted, they separated for their respective homes.

In the afternoon of the same day, and when Elg was alone, in a very wild part of the country, covered with much fallen timber and immense fragments of stone, he suddenly came upon the track of a bear; the next minute, and within a short distance from where he stood, he discovered, in the cleft of a great mass of rocks, the den of the animal.

As he had no confidence, however, (according to his own account,) in the lock of his rifle, he did not care to go immediately up to the den; he therefore mounted a pretty high stone, immediately overlooking it, at about fifteen paces distant.

From this position, he discovered the bear lying fast asleep near to the entrance of the den; and as he got sight of her ear, under which (supposing the side of the animal's head to have been towards him, as he imagined was the case,) is one of the most fatal places, he lost no time in levelling and discharging his rifle.

For a moment after he had fired, the bear lay still; and in consequence, Elg almost imagined she (for it was a female) was killed: had he thought otherwise, he would have had ample time to get out of her way; but presently the beast raised herself up, when, fixing her eyes steadily upon him, and uttering at the same time a terrific

growl, she dashed at him (to use his own expression)" with the rapidity of a bullet out of a gun," and was close upon him in almost the twinkling of an eye.

Very fortunately for Elg, the stone on which he was standing was situated on a declivity, the after part of it being some five or six feet from the ground: down this, in his hurry to escape, he tumbled all but headlong; it was well he did so, for the bear, followed by two of her cubs, which were more than half as large as herself, almost at the same instant made her spring, and passed clean and far over him.

In this situation, Elg lay for a short while, frightened, as he said, almost out of his senses; when finding all quiet, and supposing, as was the case, that the bears, from not seeing him, had taken themselves off to another part of the forest, he ventured to get up, and to reconnoitre the den; he then discovered, that besides the three which had made a leaping-bar of his person, a fourth had taken an opposite direction.

Though all four bears for this time made their escape, yet in the course of the eight or ten succeeding weeks, Elg, with the assistance of several other peasants, managed to kill the whole of them.

On taking the skin from the old bear, which he described to have been of a very large size, he found the ball which he had first fired at her, flat

tened out, and set fast on the back part of her skull. By this, it would appear that he had mistaken the position in which she was lying, so that, instead of aiming at the root of her ear, as he imagined was the case, he had fired at her lengthwise.

Had his ball, however, been of any moderate size, this would not have been of much consequence; for, if his gun was properly loaded, I take it that, at so short a distance, her head must have been split to pieces.

These bears proved a rich prize; for their skins alone, independent of their flesh, produced about ten pounds, which was no inconsiderable sum in Sweden. This sum Elg was obliged to share equally with his companions; and, in consequence, his individual portion of the spoil amounted to a mere trifle—to much less, probably, than the value of the labour he had bestowed upon their capture. But the case would have been otherwise, had his ball taken proper effect in the first instance; for the entrance to the den was so narrow, that had he killed the old bear, the cubs could not have escaped; and the whole sum the animals produced, would therefore have been his alone.

CHAPTER VIII.

Sälje Bear.

It was on Wednesday the 2nd of January, as I have said, that Elg arrived at Lapp-cottage. As he stated that the snow was several inches deep in the country about Brunberg, I determined upon forthwith attacking the bear he had ringed near to that place, and of leaving the animal at Sälje (in which vicinity there was very little snow) alone for the present. On the evening of the same day, therefore, after making the few needful preparations, we proceeded on our journey in my sledge.

On reaching Sälje, which lay in our route, we sent for the peasants who had the bear ringed near to that hamlet. These people were, we now found, very anxious to ascertain if the animal was still within the circle, as from the quantity of rain that had recently fallen, and from the ground having for so long a period been bare of snow, it

was not improbable that he might have betaken himself to another part of the country. This is more particularly likely to happen in wet weather, as, if the water penetrates to his den, the bear very generally shifts his winter-quarters.

We pointed out to the peasants the great risk that would be run by beating the ring when there was so little snow upon the ground; as, in the event of our rousing the bear, and not succeeding in killing him, should a fresh fall of snow take place immediately afterwards, his tracks might be obliterated, and we, in consequence, might lose him altogether.

To this argument they would not listen, which was the less to be wondered at, as they had now waited so long for a fall of snow, that their patience was quite exhausted. The bear, however, was their property, and not mine; and an immediate search of the ring was therefore determined upon. But as the weather was very lowering at this time, which indicated that a snowstorm was not far distant, they agreed to postpone our expedition until after the following day.

We passed the night therefore at Sälje, though, as regarded myself, not very comfortably; for my apartment, which was merely intended for the summer, admitted the weather in all directions; and, as I was not very well provided with bedclothes, I suffered not a little from the cold.

On the succeeding morning, Thursday the 3rd

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