But if Bear Harbor is eligibly located for any purpose in the world, it is for a port of entry and a custom-house; and I had in imagination drawn a complete picture of this national establishment, with collector, and deputy-collectors, surveyors, clerks, and inspectors, all busily engaged in the duties of their office, when I was startled by the cry:

"A grizzly in camp! Run for your lives!" shouted by a dozen voices, in tones of terror not to be mistaken; "up into the trees every body!"

The panic was general. Dismay and consternation seized upon the Coast Rangers. In stating this I do no injustice to the heroic courage of our noble Association; for certainly a more startling and inopportune intrusion never disturbed any party. We are aware, besides, that panics are not uncommon among the bravest men in battle. I knew a private soldier in Mexico who was so frightened when the firing commenced that he ran out of the ranks, charged single-handed upon the enemy, killed three Mexicans before he stopped; and afterward, when complimented for his courage, declared that he had fixed his eye upon the chief officer, and would have captured him, beyond doubt, if the battalion to which he belonged had not come up, and diverted the attention of the enemy from him to the new point of attack. The great difficulty in the present case was the unexpectedness of the attack and the formidable character of the enemy. Nobody saw him, but there was a terrible crashing of bushes close by, that indicated his approach beyond mistake. Mr. Thomas Fry had just lifted a ladleful of savory chow

THE GENERAL DISAPPEARS.

teenth verse of the Little Black Elephant. Without waiting for the customary applause, he made three tremendous bounds after the fashion of a startled buck, tripped on a projecting root, and disappeared, head foremost, over the bank into the creek.

Dr. Campbell, our cook, shouted, "Lor' Goramighty! dis nigger's a gone case, sure!" and threw himself flat on his face before the fire, kicking violently as if in the agonies of death. The poor old fellow, by reason of "rheumatiz" in his bones, was utterly unable to run, and the "misery in his head" prevented him from thinking of any better expedient. As he lay kicking on the ground, he kept up a continual hollowing that was pitiable to hear-"Gway fum here! Gway fum here, I say! Oh, gway fum here, an' let dis poor ole nigger be!"

Mr. Phil Wilkins, with blanched features and chattering jaws, stopped a single moment to observe, "It may be as you say, gentlemen. I admit that the sounds are not unlike those of a grizzly; but I deny, in general terms, that there is any such thing as sound. Mark that, if you please, because I intend to maintain it on the first suitable occasion!" With which he sprang into the branches of a neighboring tree, and disappeared in the foliage.

Meanwhile Colonel Jack, true to the instincts of his earlier life, seized his rifle, examined the cap, and darting behind a tree, "drew a head" over a projecting limb on the spot where it was supposed the grizzly would make his appearance. His only remark was, "Don't holler, boys, or you'll scare him away!"-a piece of advice, bythe-way, which did not appear to meet with very prompt attention, especially from the old black Doctor, who now fairly screamed, "Gway fum here! Oh, gway fum here!"

It will be remembered that the Judge was just on the point of entering into a general dissertation on the subject of Taste when his remarks were cut short by the fearful cry of warning, and the crashing sounds in the bushes. Without waiting to embellish the subject by a single ad

ditional illustration, he looked hurriedly around for a tree; perceived a large oak at no great distance; turned toward the fire where most of the party had been sitting, and where the smoke somewhat obscured their retreat-not one being left except the old cook-and observed in the most courteous manner-" Gentlemen, I beg you'll excuse me. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. It is the primary law upon which our entire judicial system is based. When communities move together in the establishment of a system of laws, each member, it is true, yields something of his liberty for the common good; but at the basis of the movement stands the great elementary principle of self-preservation. The Common Law is nothing more, in point of fact, than a compact of mutual protection. The learned Erasmus has very justly observed that law, after all, is merely the expression of an instinct common even to inferior animals. Under the process of reason it becomes somewhat complicated; but the fundamental principles are shared by all animated creation. Rochefoucault goes too far, perhaps, in his peculiar theory of Motives. I am by no means prepared to say that some of our noblest acts may not be traced to the primary element of self-preservation. deny all merit to those great benefactors of the human race who have devoted their lives to the good of their fellow-creatures, on the ground that the predominating motive was the gratification of self-love, is to deny the justice of all future rewards—"

To

Here the crashing in the bushes indicated the rapid approach of the bear. The old cook writhed with terror, and groaned piteously-"Oh, gway fum here! Gway fum here, an' let dis ole nigger be! Gway, I say! He ain't doin' nuffingway!"

The Judge hesitated a moment; the bushes now waved and crashed in a terrific manner; there was no longer room for doubt-the bear was actually coming! I consider it no reflection upon his Honor to say that, being entirely unarmed and unacquainted with the mode of

tactics usually resorted to by these ferocious animals, he deemed it prudent to suspend his remarks and run for the tree upon which he had previously placed his eye. It was a venerable oak, with a trunk about fifteen feet in circumference, and no branches within reach. The Judge hugged it, first on one side and then on the other; jumped up and came down several times in his efforts to cling to it; and eventually perceiving that it was utterly impracticable to climb such a tree without the aid of a ladder, called upon Captain Toby, who was just then making his escape in that direction, and begged to be informed if there were any more trees within a convenient distance better calculated to afford protection under the circumstances.

To which Captain Toby replied: "Certainly, Judge, any number you please. About a hundred yards to the left you will find a small sycamore admirably adapted for the purpose. To the right, about two hundred and fifty yards, is a very excellent young pine, with lateral branches extending all the way up to the top. I have been treed here by bears frequently, and am perfectly well acquainted with all the trees on

the premises. At present, if your Honor will excuse me, I am in search of a new trail, which I have reason to believe, from private information in my possession, leads to a tree, not more than a quarter of a mile distant, capable of accommodating the entire party!"

"One moment, if you please, Captain Toby," said the Judge-and there was something grave and portentous in the tone of his voice. "Pardon me for interrupting you in your flight; but it will afford me great satisfaction to be informed upon what principle of pleasure you were so kind as to lead us into this frightful wilderness, which, from all I can perceive, abounds in animals of the most ferocious character. It is not mentioned by Akenside in his 'Pleasures of the Imagination,' or by any other eminent poet with whose productions I am familiar, that five days of travel over a trail to which all other trails known to mankind must be perfectly level, and the location of a camp in the midst of hostile Indians, panthers, wolves, and grizzly bears, are accounted among the most agreeable pastimes usually adopted by gentlemen in search of pleasure. If it were not that we are sometimes apt