d the mountains by the
great Sulitelma glacier and was descending the eastern slope on my way
to the Gulf of Bothnia, my Lapp guide and I saw a big brown bear in the
distance, but as it was almost dark we decided not to go after him, for
the country was very stony. We camped that day in a forest of pines, in
order to be sheltered from the wind, for we were to sleep without a fire
so as not to make the bear suspicious. After taking our frugal meal of
hard bread and butter, my Lapp said to me, 'To-morrow we shall see the
bear; it is late in the season, and I am sure that he is looking for his
winter quarters in the neighborhood, and at the first indication of a
big snowstorm he will make ready for his long sleep, for the bears know
when a snowstorm is coming.'

"'How can they know?' I inquired.

"'I cannot tell you, for I do not know,' he replied, 'for I am not a
bear; but they do know. Do not the swallows and other migrating birds
know the approach of winter and then fly southward?'

"'They do,' I replied.

"That day we were very tired, for we had been tramping all day, down and
up hills and leaping over boulders which covered the country in many
places, and the wonder to me was that we did not break our necks.

"The place we had chosen for the night was by a big boulder almost as
large as a small house. There we could be sheltered against the cold
wind of the night that came through the trees. I picked out a stone for
a pillow, then stretched myself by the side of the boulder on thick
lichen that grew over the barren soil, and made a comfortable bed. My
guide did likewise. Then we bade each other good-night and soon fell
asleep.

"The next morning we wandered in the neighborhood where we had seen the
bear, but that day we did not find him; then we moved in the direction
whither we thought he had gone. That evening we saw another boulder some
twelve or fifteen feet high. 'This will be a fine place of shelter for
the night,' I said to the Lapp. He replied, 'It is just the place we
want. If the wind shifts we will shift also, so as to be protected.'

"I lay flat along the boulder on the thick reindeer moss, the Lapp did
likewise, and soon after we fell asleep with the pure bracing wind of
the mountains blowing over our faces.

"The next morning we saw the bear; he was a long way from us. The Lapp
said to me, 'I think the bear expects to winter round here; we must
watch him and follow him.' Soon after the bear disa