The bear was supposed to be couched in a lofty hill called Fjäll, or the Fell; so designated, I presume, because of its summit being divested, or nearly so, of wood, which not being usually the case in this part of Sweden, it thus becomes a sort of landmark for the surrounding country. On reaching our ground, we formed line, and beat the forest before us in the usual manner; but that day all our efforts to rouse the beast were apparently fruitless. At dusk, therefore, we constructed a bivouac in the way customary to this part of Scandinavia. The weather being fine, and not too cold, and having a magnificent watch-fire, as also an abundance of good things on which to regale, we were enabled to pass the night with tolerable comfort.

On the succeeding afternoon, having in the interval gone over much ground, and when retracing in a degree our steps, we suddenly came upon the track of the beast we were in search of; but the "spör" was not very recent, from which we inferred, as was the fact, that, owing to the noise made during the past night at the bivouac, or whilst we were traversing the forest the preceding day, the animal had been alarmed and induced to quit his bed. Being anxious to ascertain where he came from, we followed the heel of the tracks until very near to the den. To our extreme surprise, out he bolted; for it rarely happens that those animals, after being once disturbed in the winter, revisit the same lair. The den was at some few hundred paces distant from our route of the preceding day; and had the beast lain quiet, it is probable he would have escaped altogether. It appeared that, after his apprehensions had caused him to turn out, he had made a little detour through the forest, when, finding all safe, he had once more returned to his home. We had coupled up the dogs whilst following the tracks; but they were soon slipped, and chase was given. But, owing to the denseness of the cover, the broken and precipitous nature of the ground, and the looseness of the snow, we could not close with him. So, after the pursuit had continued for an hour or more, and the shades of evening had begun to set in, all farther pursuit was given up, and we retraced our steps to Brunberget.

At an early hour on the following morning, Elg and myself, with the dogs, renewed the attack. Having the whole day before us, we anticipated an easy victory. But we were much out in our reckoning; for though we chased the beast for many hours, and over a great tract of country, we were never enabled to get within range. Indeed, we only viewed him once, and then in the distance. On the fell from whence the animal had been started the snow lay very thick, and could we have kept him to the higher ground, where it is always deepest, his career would probably have been soon closed; but finding himself pressed, he fell down to the lower lands, where there was comparatively little snow, and then we were quickly distanced. Towards evening, finding that the brute, who had then crossed the Halga river (far to the westward of Brunberget), had the decided advantage, we gave up the chase, and, wearied and dispirited, slowly wended our way homeward.

In the course of the two following days Elg succeeded in ringing the bear, at a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles from the spot

whence he was originally roused; but, owing to bad weather, and to the very devious course of the beast, this operation had not been of easy accomplishment.

The

Here we allowed him to remain undisturbed for several days, during which a good deal of snow fell, when, thinking there was a probability of success, another attack was determined on. Finnish hamlet of Nasberget, being much nearer to the base than Brunberget, we removed our quarters to that place, and early the next morning proceeded to the ring, then only three or four miles distant.

Though the beast's tracks were partially obliterated by the newfallen snow, still, with care and attention, they were to be made out. We therefore determined on attempting to take him by surprise; but though every precaution was adopted, he bolted, unseen to us, from his newly-made lair. Returning to the "skidor," which we had left behind, that our movements might be carried on the more silently, we now gave chase. The snow in many places must have been near three feet deep, and, from its loose state, was very unfavourable for "skidor;" we had literally to plough our way. The poor dogs were quite useless. Instead of being in advance-their proper position-they usually followed in our wake, and that, too, at a respectable distance. Nevertheless, had the bear held at all straight-forward, and to the more open parts of the forest, we should probably soon have closed with him; but on the contrary, as if aware of the advantage it gave him, he pursued a devious course, and kept to the closest cover. More than an hour must have elapsed before we viewed the beast, and then at a distance of eighty or ninety yards, in a rather open part of the forest. Halting, and divesting the guns of their cases, I immediately fired at his hindquarters, which were towards me. From appearances, the bullets took effect, as the beast for some moments floundered greatly in the snow. It is possible, however, that these undulatory motions of his might have arisen rather from panic than the effect of wounds. Be that as it may, he continued his retreat, and was quickly lost to sight amongst the surrounding trees. When reloaded, the chase was continued, and in a short time we again saw our friend, looking, as bears do in deep snow, when the view is confined to the rump, much like huge ambulatory feather-beds. This time we were close upon him, and, as I discharged both guns, the brute ought to have been killed outright. On receiving my fire, however, he turned with a savage growl, and would certainly have charged had he not been in a degree paralysed by wounds, fatigue, and the great depth of snow. But he still held his course, and from this time forward confined himself to the most broken ground and tangled brakes, where we had difficulty in following. Had the dogs been up, we could quickly have finished him; but they were far behind, and of no kind of service. At length, in a close thicket, we caught sight of the fellow. He was in a measure crossing us, at some thirty paces' distance, when a ball that I put through his body brought him to the ground, stone-dead. It proved a large male.

Distending his legs, and leaving him where he fell, we returned

well satisfied to Brunberget. Two days subsequently, the beast was conveyed to that village, and from exposure to the weather, which was severe in the interval, stiff as a poker. In that condition I caused him to be set upon his hind-legs, placing a stake in front to prevent his toppling over; in which posture, standing, as he did, upwards of eight feet in height, he looked most formidable.

Being unable to obtain intelligence of other bears, we amused ourselves during the succeeding few days in the pursuit of feathered game-such as the capercali, black-cock, the ripa, &c. ; but, from the unfavourable state of the snow, we met with rather indifferent success. Now and then a hare or two was to be picked up in the forest hereabouts. We were accustomed to ring these animals in the first instance, then to follow the spor and shoot them in their forms. This was of pretty easy accomplishment after a fresh fall of snow, as well for the reason that at such times hares seldom go great distances, as that all the old tracks, which were numerous and apt to bewilder us, were thereby obliterated. This kind of chase is not unamusing.

In our rambles we occasionally saw the tracks of the lynx and glutton; but for the want of proper dogs we did not think it worth while to pursue them. At length we heard that a large bear had, in the early part of the winter, been on foot in Eastern Dalecarlia, at a distance of some 70 miles; that he had been much hunted and somewhat wounded; but owing to a sudden and heavy fall of snow his tracks had been altogether obliterated, and further pursuit, in consequence, given up. Report said, moreo ver, it was the opinion of the people engaged in the chase that, with good dogs, the beast might still be recovered; for, though not actually ringed, a strong suspicion was entertained by them as to his whereabouts. Under these circumstances, and being unable to obtain intelligence of a ring in Wermeland, we determined on trying our luck. Leaving horn and sledge at Brunberget, and taking the smallest stock of necessaries in the kit, accompanied by the dogs, we one morning set off on our skidor for Offr-Malmeg, in Western Dalecarlia. Our route lay across the Tio Mil Skog-ten-mile forest-as wild a track of country as is often to met with in Sweden; but being undulated and well studded with lakes, not by any means deficient in picturesque scenery. Neither man nor habitation was to be seen, and a gloomy silence reigned around. Owing to the distance from navigable rivers, the woodman's axe had seldom resounded in these solitudes. A considerable portion of the trees were in a state of decay, and their naked stems and branches gave the forest a very desolate and primeval appearance. It was near thirty miles to Malmeg; but the snow being in pretty good order, we accomplished the distance long before the close of day. From this hamlet we proceeded by the way of Oje, remarkable for its splendid lake, studded throughout with numerous and beautiful islands, to the glass works, situated at the southern extremity of the Wenjan, one of the largest sheets of water in this part of Sweden. Thence to Gafunda, a small village at some five or six miles to the south, where we took up our temporary quarters. Here

*Swedish miles-each near 7 English.

we met the peasants who had chased the bear of which we were in search, and obtained from them the needful information as to his supposed locality. Subsequently we proceeded to a shealing in the wilds of the forest, a few miles to the eastward, and near to the scene of action, where we purposed remaining some little time, that our search might be the more complete.

Prior to starting we provided ourselves with a few eatables, such as potatoes, bacon, bread, &c.; for beyond pots and pans nothing at that season of the year was to be found in the hut. But though our stock of provisions was scanty in quantity and plain in quality, we anticipated that, as on previous occasions, our guns would occasionally "reinforce the larder."

We spent several days at this shealing, beating various portions of the suspected ground, which embraced the side of a lofty hill and also much of the adjoining forest. But for a time our search was unsuccessful: we neither saw the brute nor any indications of him. This, however, was the less to be wondered at from the quantity of snow, which in many places must have been near four feet in depth. We were not singular in the failure of our early efforts; for two chasseurs of some celebrity, from the more northern parts of Western Dalecarlia, who had also been attracted to the spot by reports like those that had reached us, were equally unsuccessful, and, after devoting several days to the search, gave it up in despair: we, however, persevered. During our rambles we not unfrequently fell in with the track of the elk, which were rather numerous hereabouts. But at this time, very unfortunately, these animals were by law forbidden fruit.

One morning, when at about seven or eight miles to the eastward of the hut, the scenery around us was exceedingly wild and desolate. As we were passing a little knoll in the more open part of the forest, Elg, who was a few paces in advance, suddenly halted, and drew my attention to a fir tree at a little distance, the stem of which was greatly scored. These marks proved, on close inspection, to be the handiwork of a bear; and being of recent date, we inferred that the beast was not far off. Near the foot of this tree was a hole descending somewhat perpendicularly into the snow, but so blocked up by it as not to be very perceptible at a little distance. Having enlarged this hole with the skidor-sticks, we became convinced a bear was the excavator; but as, on probing the cavity to the bottom, nothing stirred, we were sceptical as to its being tenanted. On this point, however, our doubts were presently removed; for the dogs, which had been ranging in another part of the forest, now came up, and commenced baying furiously. We immediately prepared for action: both laid aside skidor; when, stationing myself near to the aperture, with my own gun as well as Elg's, I directed him to procure a long stake, with which to stir up our friend from his passing sound repose. But the bear having ensconced himself in a sort of chamber, running horizontally from the bottom of the hole, Elg's efforts to dislodge the beast, standing as he was behind the aperture, were in the first instance altogether fruitless; neither did he by growl nor other angry demonstration intimate his presence. Becoming somewhat tired of this child's-play, Elg at length advanced to the front, and apparently in considerable ire. I judged so, at least, from his ejaculation of

Tjugo tusand fan! or, in plain English, Twenty thousand devils! when, directing the stake slantingly, so as to reach the aforesaid chamber, out immediately came, not only one bear, but three-the mother and two well-grown cubs-and that, too, like so many projectiles from Perkins' steam gun. I fired on the instant, and the old bear fell dead. One of the cubs went off nearly unscathed, the other badly wounded. Reloading and resuming the skidor, we gave chase to the latter, with which, from its being hard pressed by the dogs, we soon came up, when a bullet quickly put a period to his miseries. But the other cub gave us somewhat more trouble; for the weather being rather mild for the season of the year, and it now being past mid-day, the snow began to adhere to the skidor, and consequently greatly impeded our progress. A shot, fired somewhat at random, which took effect in the leg, at length partially disabled the animal; but, on attempting to re-load, ammunition was wanting, it having been left by mistake with the kit, which, to facilitate cur movements, we had cast off near to the den. Had the quarry been more formidable, here was a predicament! but, as the beast was little to be feared, no inconvenience resulted; for, in want of a better weapon, I ran in upon and destroyed him with my skidor-stick. Elg now shouldered the prize, and we returned to the previous scene of slaughter.

Being provided with knives, we set to work skinning and cutting up the bears. A sort of platform was then erected, at a few feet from the ground, on which the spoil was deposited. This was covered with small branches of the spruce pine, as a protection from falling weather. Whilst thus occupied we were unexpectedly joined by the Dalecarlian chasseurs, of whom mention was recently made. Like us, they were on the prowl, and having fallen in with our tracks, and hearing the shots in the distance, wished to see what we were about. As it suited the views of all parties, we agreed to bear company; so, after feasting the new comers on the more delicate parts of the bears, our skidors were resumed, and off we again started in search of fresh adventures. But, very unfortunately, the weather soon afterwards broke, and the snow in consequence was in a miserable state for skidor. As, principally owing to this circumstance, our little trip proved a failure, I shall content myself with saying that, after wandering over a large extent of wilderness, situated between the lakes Liljan and Wenjan, during which time we saw neither human being nor habitation, other than untenanted shealings, and undergoing some hardships from fatigue, bivouacs, and scanty fare, we retraced our steps homewards. Had circumstances been more propitious we should probably have done considerable execution; for game of several kinds was here as plentiful as in most parts of Scandinavia, though that, to be sure, is saying little for its abundance. Elg and myself made for the shealing; the Dalecarlians for Gafunda, where they had taken up their quarters.

A word before parting regarding these men, who stood in the relative position of father and son. The father was an old soldier, glorying in the name of Sjunger, or the vocalist-his military cognomen, I believe. But being somewhat advanced in years, on him devolved the single duty of carrying the prog-no light task either, when we consider the enormous appetites usually possessed by brother Nimrods,