any of those animals; but, from a close thicket, a lynx, a fine long-legged fellow, nearly as red, and twice as large, as a fox, went off at an awkward gallop. This animal, or at least one of the same species, I had previously seen when we were firing at the bears; but at that time I did not care to waste my powder and shot, when so much better game was on foot. When he first started, he was within about fifteen paces of me, and then I could pro bably have killed him; but at that time some of the people were in the line of my fire, and I was therefore obliged to let him go off unmolested. When he was at some sixty or seventy paces distance, I sent the contents of both my barrels after him, though, as far as I could judge, without any effect; his escape, however, was next to impossible, for the people at this time were eight or ten deep; so, after running the gauntlet of twenty shots at the least, he was at length slaughtered. "Thirty or forty hares were still with in the cordon, perfectly bewildered with the noise and uproar that was going forward. When, however, we had beaten the few remaining brakes, and ascertained beyond a doubt, that neither bear nor other wild beast was remaining, a war of extermination was carried on against them. Some of these poor animals were knocked on the head as they were running among the legs of the people; whilst others, and by far the greater part, were shot; this indeed was altogether contrary to orders; for, in skalls, no one is permitted to fire, except at bears or other wild beasts. Such shooting, however, I never before witnessed; for, in more than one instance, I saw twelve or fourteen shots fired in succession at the same hare, when within only a few paces of the muzzles of the guns, without its being touched; and after all, I almost suspect more of them died from fright, than in consequence of any actual injury they received. "By the time all the hares were killed, we had advanced close upon the edge of the water, when, nothing else presenting itself, the skall of course terminated, and the people dispersed. "The game was now to be collected from the different parts of the skall-plats; this was effected by slinging it on poles, and carrying it on men's shoulders. It was found to consist of a lynx and three bears. It was, however, reported that several bears had been killed during the battue, and secreted by the peasants and others for their own individual benefit. How far this story might be true I know not; though I certainly believed it the less, as I myself was numbered among the delinquents. "One of the bears, the same that I had at least some hand in killing, was rather a large male; the other two were females. I did not very particularly examine any of them; but, from what I saw, I had reason to suppose that they had only received very few balls; this I should have been surprised at, had I not known what wretched performers the peasants usually are on these occasions, for I have no doubt but that between one and two hundred shots were fired at the bears alone during this particular battue. Their guns, however, and more particularly the locks, are commonly of a very sorry description; and in the course of the day, near to where I stood, I certainly heard as many clicks, or miss-fires, as explosions. At fixed objects, many of the Swedish peasants are capital marksmen; but in general they have little idea of hitting in rapid motion. "Here was but a sorry return for the loss of time occasioned to fifteen or sixteen hundred men who composed this skall, many of whom, in consequence of residing at long distances, were absent from their homes for five or six days. The expense altogether I heard estimated at about five thousand rix-dollars, or two hundred and fifty pounds of our money, which was no inconsiderable sum in Sweden. Had the skall, however, been as well conducted in the commencement as it seemed to me to be towards the conclusion, I have little doubt, from what I know of that part of the country, that in.. stead of three bears, ten or fifteen of these animals, together with many other wild beasts, might, with every facility, have been slaughtered. In this case the trouble and expense would have been well repaid. "The bears in this instance died tamely, for I did not hear of their making an attack upon any part of the line; this however, as I have already shown, is not always the case in skalls; for those animals will occasionally dash at the people, when, if not quickly put hors de combat, they sometimes do much mischief. "Neither elks nor wolves were seen, that I am aware of, on this occasion; the former, however, are sometimes to be met with in that part of Dalecarlia; and the latter are rather numerous. "Some time after the battue was terminated, the game, with the exception of hares, which the peasants were allowed to keep themselves, was sold by public auction. The sale seemed to create a good deal of interest, though but little competition in regard to bidding; for, altogether, it produced the merest trifle. This was the less to be wondered at, as "When the sale was concluded, the people dispersed, and every one made for his respective home." In summer skalls, which are ge nerally the most interesting, wide tracts of country, as we have now. seen, are often driven, or rather hunted, and a great variety and quantity of game is frequently collected together. Yet they are not certain of success; for as at that season it is not exactly known where a bear or other wild beast is to be found, it is. only the suspected part of the forest that can be beaten; and in consequence, a blank day may sometimes occur. Mr Lloyd, on his return home from the summer skall above described, came up with five or six peasants, who were returning from it to Dyngsjö, from which they had started on the preceding Sunday morning. The distance from that place to where the skall terminated, could not be less than fifty miles; and thus these poor fellows, independently of the sacrifice of their time, for five whole days, had nearly a hundred miles to travel, without any remuneration. Sometimes they had to travel a still greater distance; and to be absent from home a week or ten days. Yet such seems to be their stupidity and ignorance of the sport, that they do not kill one in ten that would fall a prey to more accomplished rangers. Sixteen hundred North-of-England men, or Highlanders,―witness the Tinchels of old, When the hunter of deer and the war rior trode To his hills that encircle the sea,— would have swept the whole forest before them of bears, and wolves, and all other wild animals. But these Dalecarlians seem, with few exceptions, to be clumsy louts, and incapable of discipline, even in an expedition in which they have all an interest, and which has been for ages a national pursuit and pastime. They are miserable marksmen- or rather no marksmen at all-missing bears sitting, and always taken by surprise. They are all so afraid of shooting one another, that Bruin sometimes breaks through the cordon without a shot being fired; and when they do let bang, it would seem they always shut their eyes, a preliminary process often unnecessary, as the pulling of the trigger is seldom followed either by pluff or explosion. A skall consisting of a score of English poachers, like the Westmoreland Allonbys, would kill more bears than a cordon of a thousand Dalecarlians. In former times, the sport was somewhat better understood; though the details of a skall got up for Frederick the First are, though imposing, rather barren of blood. Many thousand persons used to form those royal skalls but the result of the greatest we read of, was but some five or six bears, a few wolves, and an elk or two, with some score of hares and such small deer-" great cry and little wool" indeed! For our own part, we should much prefer a winter skall. Then the extent of country embraced is very limited in comparison, and a smaller number of people-who may be picked-are required. It is ascertained by ringing (tholma) where a bear has taken up his quarters in the winter time, and the skall nara certainty of success. Ringing is rows in upon his lair, with almost thus accomplished: When there is snow upon the ground, and the track of the animal (something resembling, in more respects than one, that of a human being) is discovered, a person follows it, until there is reason to believe that the bear may have taken up his quarters in the vicinity. This is in dicated by his proceeding very slowly, and in a crooked direction, or rather by his doubling in the same manner as a hare; for, as long as he goes in a straight line, he has no intention of lying down. The man now leaves the track, and commences making an extended ring or circle round the suspected part of the forest: should he succeed in completing this without again meeting with the track, he of course knows to a certainty the bear is within it. If on the contrary, however, he finds the animal has proceeded beyond his intended circle, he commences another ring, and thus he continues until he succeeds in accomplishing his object. The size of a ring depends altogether upon circumstances, the season of the year, the state of the snow, the localities, &c.; and in consequence, though some may not exceed a mile or two in circumference, others again are six or eight, or even more. To ring a bear properly requires great experience; and during the operation, if so it may be termed, the greatest silence and caution are necessary. Mr Lloyd on several occasions commanded small skalls himself; but he prefers giving an account of one under the direction of his friend, Mr Falk, in the neighbourhood of Stjern, a celebrated general, who has published a pamphlet on skalls, of which Mr Lloyd gives us a translation-and it is a curious document enough. The place of rendezvous was near a lake called the Boda, and there assembled about five hundred men formed into two divisions, armed with axes, pikes, or spears, and presenting rather a warlike appearance. Mr Falk took command in person of the dref, or driving division; the other, the hallet, or stationary-division, he intrusted to one of the under-forest-keepers (krono skogvaktare), who was on all such occasions his right-hand man. His name was Daniel Andersen; but being of Finnish origin, he was known all over the country by the appellation of Jan Finne. Among these Fins-whose ancestors came to Sweden in consequence of an invitation from Charles the Ninthare now to be found many of the most daring and successful bearhunters in the kingdom; but Jan Finne was the champion. Though still in the prime of life, he had killed sixty-five bears with his own gun, independently of all those he had assisted in destroying in skalls. In all his combats he had never been wounded, owing chiefly to his incomparable activity on the skidor or snow-skates, of which more anon. A short time subsequent to the skall which Mr Lloyd describes, Mr Falk represented to the government Jan Finne's general good conduct as forest-keeper, and government awarded him a handsome silver medal, with which his person was on Sunday decorated in the church at Răda. In presenting him with the medal, Mr Falk stated, in presence of the whole congregation, why such distinction had been conferred, and subsequently gave a sumptuous din ner in honour of the illustrious hunter, to which our author, in compliment to his gallantry and skill, was invited, and where he played an admirable knife and fork, as well as a spoon and cup. Indeed, though Mr Lloyd speaks of his own achievements with much modesty, we know that he is a first-rate sportsman ; nor should we be afraid, now that he has led the skall repeatedly himself, to back him even against the Silver Medalist. The winter skall, of which we now speak, formed a circle, the circumference of which was four thousand paces. On reaching the vicinity of the ring, a general halt took placeknapsacks were deposited, and the troops underwent a rigorous bodily search, for brandy-for a few drunk men disorder a whole skall. Mr Lloyd was with the stationary division, and on coming to a part of the forest where the trees were rather open, and where there was little brushwood, he placed himself in a favourable position in front of the cordon. "Here I had not waited more than ten minutes, the people all the while keeping the most guarded silence, when to my left a great shout was set up of The bears! the bears!' In looking in that direction, I very indistinctly saw one of those animals at about a hundred paces distance; but he was so shrouded in the thicket, and my view of him was so transitory, that I did not think it worth while to fire. One of the peasants, however, discharged his piece at the bears, the four being together, though I believe without effect. This shot nevertheless, together with the shouts of the people, was the means of turning them, for they instantly headed about and faced towards the opposite, or eastern, side of the ring. It was fortunate they took this direction, as, had they made to the northward, from the cordon at that time being incomplete, they would in all probability have escaped. I was much afraid this would have been the case; and so, as I afterwards learnt, were Mr Falk and Jan Finne, both of whom, however, on hearing the shot, and apprehending what might happen, hurried forward their respective divisións as fast as possible, and luckily they were in time to form a junction before the bears made their appearance in that direction. "Every thing now remained perfectly tranquil for a long while; for, even when the cordon was completed, it became necessary to strengthen those parts that were the weakest, as well as to make certain other arrangements, To effect these objects, Mr Falk, Jan Finne, and the other officers, were kept very actively employed for a considerable time, "At about one o'clock, three shots, the one from the centre, and the other from the wings of the opposite division, (the nsual signals on these occasions,) together with the cries of the people, which might now be indistinctly heard in the distance, announced that it was advancing towards us. Two hours or more, however, must have elapsed, during which, from the quicksilver being little above zero, and from my only being provided with my common shooting-jacket, I was almost perished with cold, before we heard another discharge, or saw any thing of the bears; for, now that these animals found themselves environed on every side, they kept the closest and most tangled brakes; and the people, as is usual on these occasions, proceeded at a very slow pace. "Beginning to tire at last with remaining so long idle in the same position, I advanced alone about 50 paces farther within the cordon, when I stationed myself in such a situation, that I could command a tolerable view of the surrounding forest. This, however, for the reasons already given when speaking of the skall in Dalecarlia, was altogether contrary to rule. "Here I had not remained a very long while, when a shot to my left gave me to understand that the bears were not far off; and the next minute, at about one hundred and fifty paces from where I stood, I caught a glimpse of them as they were crossing a small opening among the trees. The old bear was in advance, and the cubs, which were of a very large size, were following in succession upon her track. I might now, by possibility, have done execution; but thinking, from the direction they were taking, that they would come nearer to me, I refrained from firing. In this, however, I acted wrong; for, instead of facing towards me, as I had anticipated, they made for the opposite side of the ring; presently afterwards, indeed, the shouts of the people, together with several shots, plainly indicated that they had made their appearance in that direction. "Some little while subsequent to this, I was joined by Lieutenant Oldenburg, of the Swedish army, who resided in the vicinity of my quarters at Stjern, and from whom, on various occasions, I have received much civility and attention. This gentleman and myself were conversing together in an under tone of voice, and I had my double-gun, which was on the full cock, in my hand, when two of the young bears, either of them nearly as large as animals of that species we are accustomed to see in England, suddenly made their appearance on the outskirts of a thick brake, at about twenty paces from where we stood. On seeing us, however, they squatted like rabbits; or at least this was the case with one of them, for of the other I got the merest glimpse possible. "We both now fired, the Lieutenant a little after myself, and the foremost of the bears as instantly fell; but the other, at the same moment disappearing in the brake, I had no time to discharge my second barrel. As that which was down, however, showed some disposition to get on his legs again, I ran close up to him, and sent a bullet through his skull. Besides the latter ball, the bear only received one other, which, on his body being opened at a subsequent period, was recognised to be mine. Indeed, when Lieutenant Oldenburg fired, the animal was in the act of falling; and of this he was him. self fully aware. My first ball shattered the bear's right shoulder (the point exposed to me) to pieces, and after passing through his body and ribs, it lodged in the skin on the opposite side; in fact, it was within an ace of going through him altogether the ball was, however, quite flattened, and as large as a halfpenny. "For a while, all remained pretty quiet; but presently afterwards, the tremendous shouts of the people opposite to us, and these, probably, at little more than two hundred paces distance, together with the very heavy firing that was kept up, plainly told us the remaining bears were endeavouring to make their escape in that direction. The scene had now become very animating and interesting, for at one period we counted no less than ten shots in the space of about a minute. "After a time, however, the firing ceased altogether; and Lieutenant Oldenburg and myself were then almost led to conclude that the whole of the bears were slaughtered. In this supposition, nevertheless, we were mistaken; for presently we viewed the old bear, which, from the manner of dragging herself along, was evidently much wounded, as she was slowly making her way across a small glade in the forest. Though Jan Finne, who by this time had joined us, called out to me it was useless, I nevertheless sent a ball after her; but as she quickly disappeared in a thick brake, we had no great reason to suppose it took the desired effect. "In the space of two or three minutes, during which several shots were fired immediately opposite to us, we again saw the old bear. Owing to an intervening brake, however, my view of her was much more indistinct than that obtained by my companions, who were a pace or two to the left of me. At this time she was stand ing motionless, with her front towards us, and at about 90 paces distant. Jan Finne and Lieutenant Oldenburg now lost no time in discharging the rifles with which both of them were provided. Jan Finne fired the first; and, though without a rest of any kind, with so good an aim, that his ball, as we subsequently found, entered her breast near to the shoulder, and ran the whole length of her body, when it lodged in her haunches. She did not, however, alter her position, and only noticed the wound she had received by a little shake of her head. Lieutenant Oldenburg was, however, more fortunate; for, dropping on one knee, and though like Jan Finne, without a rest, he took so good a direction, that his ball entered the heart of the animal, when she instantly fell dead upon the spot. "The firing in front of us was, at intervals, still kept up for a minute or two longer, and then ceased altogether. On this Jan Finne, after we had advanced up to the bear, which Lieutenant Oldenburg and himself had just shot, hallooed to the people to halt; though at this time we were hardly 50 paces distant from them, not one of whom could we distinguish, in consequence of the closeness of the cover. Jan Finne now informed Mr Falk, who was along with his division, and immediately opposite to us, that three of the bears were dead within the ring; for, independently of the two that we ourselves had killed, we observed a third lying hors de combat at some little distance. In reply, that gentleman told us a fourth was killed near to where he stood; so that the whole of those of which we had come in pursuit -and we had not the good fortune to meet with others in the same ring-were now all slaughtered. "The skall, as may be supposed, was then quickly brought to a conclusion; for, with the exception of a few hares, which the people knocked on the head with sticks, there was neither wolf nor other animal remaining within the ring. "Thus ended this battue, which was said to have been among the most suc cessful Mr Falk ever commanded; for four bears, all of which might almost be termed large, are not to be killed in the Scandinavian forests every day in the year. The result, however, would probably have been different, had it not been for Mr Falk's precaution in ordering Jan Finne to lead with his division under the wind in the first instance; as, had the contrary been the case, the bears would most likely, for the time at least, have made their escape. Indeed, from the variableness of the weather subsequently, and the consequent state of the snow, I am not quite sure but that, if those animals had escaped on this occasion, they might have got off altogether. "During the skall, I think not less than sixty or seventy shots were fired at the bears, no one on this occasion daring to shoot at any other animal, and the greater part of them at very short range. Towards the conclusion of the skall, indeed, those animals principally held to an almost impenetrably thick brake, where it was hardly possible to see them at more than a few paces distance; and it was here the greater part of the firing took place. The number of shots, therefore, will give some little idea of the kind of performers the peasants usually are on these occasions. "The whole of the arrangements of this skall were admirable; and the per sonal exertions of Mr Falk on this, as on all similar occasions, were most unremitting. Indeed, at its conclusion, that gentleman was so hoarse from hallooing to the people, that he was hardly able to articulate a word. "The bears were now collected toge ther; these, with every other animal killed within the skall, were the perquisite of Mr Falk, as Ofwer-Jägmästare. The old bear was of a large size; and, from the appearance of her teeth, claws, &c. she appeared to be aged. Her weight was supposed to be between three and four hundred pounds. The cubs were thought to be three years old, and to weigh about one hundred and fifty or sixty pounds a-piece. They were all slung on poles, and then borne to the nearest vehicles, by them to be conveyed to Mr Falk's residence at Risäter. "Three hearty cheers were now given to celebrate our success, when the people dispersed and made for their respective homes." Casualties at skalls are of course not unfrequent. At one of them, a badly wounded bear rushed upright on his hind legs on a peasant who had missed fire, and seized him by the shoulders with his fore-paws, |