unded bear in the thick brush; but I found it most difficult to keep
them to this rule. The large hole of the bullet from my .50-caliber which
Nikolai carried made it easy to distinguish his hits, and if a bear had
received the mortal wound from his rifle, I should not have kept the
skin.

The pelt of this bear which we had just killed was in excellent
condition, and although he was not fat, he was of fair size, measuring 6
feet 3-1/8 inches along the vertebrae.

Great care was taken as usual to pick up the empty cartridge shells, and
we pulled up the bloody bits of grass, throwing them into a brook, into
which we put also the bear's carcass.

The storm continued for several days, and was accompanied by an
unfavorable wind, which drew up into all our shooting grounds. We kept
quietly in camp, which was so situated that although we were just
opposite the great marsh, our scent was carried safely away. Then we
were most careful to have only small fires for our cooking, and we were
extremely particular to select dry wood, so that there would be as
little smoke as possible.

All this while we kept a constant watch upon the meadow, but no bears
made their appearance.

On the morning of the 19th, my friend and his hunter went up the shore
to investigate a small marsh lying a mile or so from camp. Here they saw
that the grass had been recently nibbled, and that there were fresh
signs about. They returned to this spot again that evening and sighted a
bear. The bear fed quickly up to within sixty-five yards, when Blake
rolled him over. This bear was not a large one, and was of the usual
tawny color.

The next morning a bear was seen by my natives in the big meadow by our
camp, but he did not remain long enough for a stalk. At 9:30 he again
came out into the open, and Nikolai and I made a quick approach, but the
bear, although he was not alarmed, did not wait long enough for us to
get within range. We had skirted the marsh, keeping just inside of the
thicket, and now when the bear disappeared we settled ourselves for a
long wait should he again come into the open. We were well hidden from
view, and the wind blew slanting in our faces and across our front. I
had just begun to think that we should not get a shot until the bear
came out for his evening feed, when Nikolai caught my arm and pointed
ahead. There, slowly leaving the dense edge of the woods, was a new
bear, not so large as the first, but we could see at a glance t