As regards the chase of the bear in Asturias, where I have killed four, I may say that it commences in September, at which period the bears are in the habit of descending nightly from the higher mountain-forests to the lower ground in order to raid the maize-fields in the valleys. Expert trackers, sent out at daybreak, spoor the bear right up to whichever covert he may have entered, and from which no further tracks emerge beyond. The locality at which the animal has laid up being thus ascertained, a _montería_ (mountain-drive) is organised--the beaters being provided with crackers, empty tins, hunting-horns, and every sort of ear-splitting engine--even the services of the bagpiper[52] are requisitioned! Three or four guns are usually required, and are posted along the line where the bear is most likely to break--such as where the forest runs out to a point; or where it is narrowed by some projecting spur of precipitous rocks; or a deep valley where the covert is flanked by a mountain-torrent that restricts and defines the probable line of escape. The bear (which is in the habit of attacking and destroying much cattle) comes crashing through the brushwood, breaking down all obstacles, and giving ample notice by the noise of his advance. If wounded he will attack the aggressor; but otherwise bears only become dangerous when they have young or are hurt in some way. The picturesque nature of these mountain-forests lends a further fascination to the chase of the bear in Asturias. From twenty to thirty bears are killed here every year. The following quaint paragraphs we extract from Spanish newspapers:-- FIGHT WITH A BEAR.--In the mountains of the Province of Lerida (Catalonia) a bear last week attacked and overpowered a muleteer, intending to devour him. A shepherd who happened to be in the neighbourhood, though at some little distance, witnessed the occurrence. Hastening with his utmost speed to the spot, he threw himself between the bear and its victim; and after a prolonged and strenuous combat (_lucha larga y esforzada_), the shepherd succeeded with his lance (_garrocha_) in killing the savage beast (_fiera_). In his gratitude, the muleteer desired to present the shepherd with the best horse of his cavalcade, but this the latter declined.--_November 24, 1907._