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ed against the walls of my room: one, from "Proverbs," to the following effect :-" Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches."

Towards the middle of November, I obtained intelligence of several bears, which, it was reported, were safely ringed: one at some distance to the eastward of Sälje, a hamlet situated at about seven miles to the northward of Lapp cottage; the others, consisting of a she-bear, with cubs, near to Tönnet, a village at some seven miles farther to the northward.

The first, or Sälje bear, had been roused from his winter-quarters by two men, who were in the forest for the purpose of shooting hazel-hens. They were in a very thick brake, the usual resort for those birds, when one of them suddenly came close upon the animal, as he lay coiled up in his lair. The peasant had only small shot in his gun; and therefore, not thinking it prudent to fire, he retreated upon his companion, who was at some little distance. Both then loaded with ball, when they advanced up to the bear. In the interim, however, the animal had taken the alarm, and wisely walked himself off.

There was the merest sprinkling of snow upon the ground at this time, from which cause the people were four days before they could succeed in

encircling him. This bear was supposed to be the same of which I have spoken as having been in search of during the preceding summer.

The latter, or Tönnet bears, had, in the first instance, been disturbed from their den by two men who were felling timber in the forest, but owing to the ground being bare of snow in places, it took two days before they could succeed in ringing the animals.

At this period I was without an attendant; but as there was now no time to be lost, I forthwith proceeded to Jan Finne, of whom I have made honourable mention, to obtain his assistance in attacking the bears of which I had just received intelligence.

This man resided in a very wild and desolate part of the forest, at about thirty-five miles to the north-west of Lapp cottage; but, on my reaching his habitation, I was sorry to find he was absent from home. On the following day, however, I was fortunate enough to fall in with him at Tönnet; near to which place the she-bear, with her cubs, were ringed.

As the ground was then nearly bare of snow, we did not think it advisable to attack those animals at that time; as, had we roused, and not succeeded in killing them, it was not improbable their tracks might have been lost, and that in consequence they might have got off altogether. Jan Finne and myself, therefore, separated for our

respective homes; but I gave him orders to meet me at Tönnet, the moment there should be a fall of snow, which, from the advanced state of the season, we thought could not be very far distant. On my return to Lapp cottage, I found the most celebrated of the Dalecarlian chasseurs awaiting my arrival.

This man's name was Jan Svensson ; he was between fifty and sixty years of age, and blind of one eye, it having been knocked out in the forest at a time, it was said, when his head was too full of brandy. He was small in person, but his heart lay in the right place. He had been accessory to the death of sixty or seventy bears, very many of which he had killed himself. At this time, however, his day was passed; for, probably in consequence of a too great indulgence in his favourite liquor, he was little capable of any severe exertion; and, though not very far advanced in life, he had the appearance of a worn-out and decrepit old man.

Svensson had been twice wounded by bears; once under the following circumstances:

On a certain occasion, himself, and five or six other peasants, had ringed a very large bear, which had previously been much hunted and shot at; when, placing his companions in ambush around the ring, he advanced alone upon the track of the animal, for the purpose of rousing him. Svensson had a capital dog, which, the moment it was

slipped from its couplings, dashed towards the bear, and soon had him on foot. As Svensson had anticipated, the beast made towards his companions; one of whom got a shot at, and desperately wounded him in the side; the ball indeed only missed his heart by a few inches.

This injury the bear quickly revenged; for, dashing at his assailant, whose efforts to escape were fruitless, he laid him prostrate, and wounded him severely in the arms and back. Indeed, the poor fellow would probably have been minus of his scalp, had it not been for his hat, which the animal perforated with his teeth in seven different places.

There the mischief, as regarded this man, ended, for the attacks of the dog at last caused the bear to leave his fallen foe.

The beast now retraced his steps into the ring, and soon came in contact with Svensson, who happened to be following upon the animal's tracks. He was in a gallop, and came end on, to use the man's own expression, like a horse. But when he was at about thirty paces distance, Svensson discharged his rifle, and with so good an aim, that the bear directly fell.

Svensson might now have got out of the way with every facility; but, thinking the bear was either dead or desperately wounded, he commenced reloading his rifle: he had only placed

the powder in the barrel, however, when the animal got on his legs again, and, fixing his eyes upon him, made right at him.

Svensson now endeavoured to elude the attack, by springing on one side, a manoeuvre which is often attended with success on like occasions; but the bear still kept pursuing him, and two or three doubles that he made were equally unsuccessful. Finding escape was impossible, Svensson therefore stood still, and when the bear came up to him, which he did on all-fours like a bull, he attempted to drive the muzzle of his gun down the throat of the enraged brute. But the bear laying hold of the gun, instantly wrested it out of Svensson's hand, when, seizing him by the arm, he bit him severely.

The dog was not an idle spectator of what was going forward; for, seeing the jeopardy in which his master was placed, he gallantly fixed on the bear's hind-quarters. To get rid of this assailant, however, and not caring to quit his hold of Svensson, the bear threw himself on to his back, making with the one paw a dash at the dog, and with the other holding Svensson, who was of course uppermost, fast in his embraces. This he repeated three several times, handling the poor man, to use his own expression, with as much ease as a cat would a mouse. In the intervals, between these manœuvres, he was either occupied in biting