"
"Well, I have," said he, "but I have listened with pleasure to you,
for although I am not experienced in horses, performing most of my
journeys on foot, I see you know what you are talking about, for I am
familiar with the anatomy of the horse. My road is the trackless
forest, and I am more at home there than in a city. Like you I am fond
of nature, but unlike you I know little of human nature, and I would
rather listen to your experience than undergo the labour of acquiring
it. Man is an artificial animal, but all the inhabitants of the forest
are natural. The study of their habits, propensities, and instincts is
very interesting, and in this country the only one that is formidable
is the bear, for he is not only strong and courageous, but he has the
power to climb trees, which no other animal will attempt in pursuit of
man in Nova Scotia. The bear therefore is an ugly customer,
particularly the female when she has her cubs about her, and a man
requires to have his wits about him when she turns the table on him
and hunts him. But you know these things as well as I do, and to tell
you the truth there is little or nothing that is new to be said on the
subject; one bear hunt is like another. The interest of these things
is not so much in their incidents or accidents, as in the mode of
telling them."
"That's a fact," sais I, "Doctor. But what do you suppose was the
object Providence had in view in filling the world with beasts of
prey? The east has its lions, tigers, and boa-constrictors; the south
its panthers and catamounts; the north its bears and wolves; and the
west its crocodiles and rattle-snakes.
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