Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884.: A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and FiresideVarious
Science
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884.: A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside
Various
Agriculture -- United States -- Periodicals; Farm life -- Periodicals; United States -- Rural conditions -- Periodicals
Well, in the first place I did not, of course, see the bear in the city,
but in a place called Sackville--a section of country about five miles
long, and extending over hill and dale and valley; through woods and
across streams. My host owned a beautiful farm--picturesquely beautiful
only, not with a money-making beauty--situated upon the slope of a hill,
where one could stand and look upon the most tender of melting sunsets,
away off toward the broad old ocean.
One morning as we were all gathered upon the front stoop, grandpa,
mamma, baby, kitten and all, we looked down the valley and saw coming up
the hill, led by two men, an immense yellow bear. One of the farm hands
was sent to call the men and the bear up to the house. The men, who were
Swiss, were glad enough to come, as they were taking bruin through the
country to show off his tricks and make thereby a little money.
The children were somewhat afraid at first, but soon felt quite safe
when they saw he was firmly secured by a rope. Old bruin's keeper first
gave him a drink of water, then poured a pailful over him, which he
seemed to enjoy very much, as the day was a warm one. One of the men
said something in Swiss, at which the bear gave a roar-like grunt and
commenced to dance. Around and around the great lumbering fellow went on
his two hind legs, holding his fore paws in the air. It was not what one
would call a very "airy waltz," however. Again the keeper spoke, and
immediately bruin threw himself upon the ground and turned somersaults,
making us all laugh heartily. He then told him to shake hands (but all
in Swiss), and it was too funny to see the great awkward animal waddle
up on his hind legs and extend first one paw and then the other. But
what interested us all most, both big and little, was to hear the man
say, "Kisse me," and then to watch the bear throw out his long tongue
and lick his keeper's face.
We then gave the bear some milk to drink, when suddenly he gave a bound
forward toward the baby. But he was securely tied, as we well knew. The
milk roused all the beast's savage instincts, one of the men said.
But what will interest you most of all will be the fact that on the farm
(which consisted of five hundred acres, nearly all woodland) there were
seen almost every morning the footprints of a real savage bear. The
sheep were fast disappearing, and the farmers about were not a little
worried. One day I went for a walk into these same woods, and such
woods! you Western boys and girls could not possibly imagine them--the
old moss-covered logs, and immense trees cut down years ago and left to
lie there until all overgrown with mosses and lichens. I never before
experienced such a feeling of solitude as in that walk of over a mile in
length through those deep dark woods, where sometimes we had literally
to cut our way through with our little hatchets (we always carried them
with us when in the forest).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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