EDITOR'S WALLET.

Otago Witness, Issue 1874, 21 October 1887, Page 35

EDITOR'S WALLET.

After a Bear. I It is great sport to pursue a large bear with fierce energy, occasionally stopping to rest when the trail gets too fresh. I once followed a bear four miles. I then sat down to luncheon, full of a sportsman's grim joy, for I thought the bear was not mere or less than six miles ahead. Suddenly I heard a snort of surprise, and, turning, I saw the bear and snorted. I cannot express the gladness I felt. It was a beautiful scene. The broad sun laughed from the infinite blue ; the birds sang, and all Nature, including the bear, wore a tranquil smile. I climbed a tree hard by to enjoy the view, and the bear came forward in a light-hearted way, and my spirits rose as he sat down with the air of one who expected to Camp out for a week. In climbing the tree in my enthusiasm over the scenery I had forgotten my gun and likewise a small flask of liniment, useful for treating the bite of large and deadly serpents which infest that .region. The bear found the liniment, and when I saw him lean back with dreamy eyes emptying that flask into his countenance I knew trouble was bruin. Nothing is more painful to a true sportsman than to sit for lonely hours on an uncushioned knot in the fork of a desolate tree, watching the gradual progress of a drunken bear towards feelings inclining him to homicide. When the flask was empty and the bear was full, I noticed he plainly saw two sportsmen in the tree overhead and was trying to make up his mind which would be better to save for breakfast, A dozen yards away was a wild bees' nest, and in fetching the gravel a swipe to sharpen up his claws a bit he attracted the attention of the colony, and they attracted his attention half a minute later. They likewise attracted mine, and, between me, the bear, and the bees, things began to freshen up. I never had seen a bear take^ so deep an interest in a subject on short notice. He chawed the air and floated lightly about in the wind, threw back somersaults and waltzed with great rapidity, and in less than a minute, when I slid down the tree and took a bee line for the camp, the bear took an ursaline for the woods and I saw him no more. As it happened, I lost that bear and threw away a great opportunity, but if it had not been for those bees I think I may safely and without bragging say that there would have been plenty of meat under that tree in a few minutes.— Henry Guy Carleton,