It turned out to be a young bear
fishing. The bear is a great fisherman. His mode of fishing is very
curious. He wades into a current, and seating himself upright on his hams,
lets the water come about up to his shoulders; he patiently waits until
the little fishes come along and rub themselves against his sides; he
seizes them instantly, gives them a nip, and with his left paw tosses them
over his shoulder to the shore. His left paw is always the one used for
tossing ashore the produce of his fishing. Feeling is the sense of which
Bruin makes use here, not sight.
"'The Indians of that part say that the bear catches sturgeon when
spawning in the shoal-water, but the only fish that I know of their
catching is the sucker. Of these, in the months of April and May, the bear
makes his daily breakfast and supper, devouring about thirty or forty at a
meal. As soon as he has caught a sufficient number, he wades ashore and
regales himself on the best morsels, which are the thick of the neck,
behind the gills. The Indians often shoot him when thus engaged.'
"There is a small red berry in the woods that is known by the name of the
bear-berry, [Footnote: _Arbutus uva ursi_--"Kinnikinnick" is the Indian
name.] of which they say the young bears are particularly fond.
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