New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-07-11
A TRAGIC BEAR-FIGHT

We translate from the Quebec Cdnadien the
following account of q fearful encounter with
bear, in which the unfortunate hunter lost his
life:
A most painful occurrence has Just spread
sort Of panic in the parish of st. Raymond A
man has been torn to pieces by a bear This
animal, on the night of Sunday, the 29th of May,
had killed and carried off a COW belonging to a
man of the name of Michel Cantin. On the
morrow an experienced hunter in that region,
named James Cantn, whose aim for forty Years
had brought down bears, moose, and other large
game of the forest without number, prepared
means to put an end to the feroeious brute. 1t
was sundown before these were completed, and
he had not time to go for his son to assist him
in the hunt. The bear came, according to GUS
tom, to feed unon the prey he had secreted; and
| the inhabitants of the village heard the firing
| of q gun Fifteen minutes later, another gun
| was heard, the report sounding as if near the
| woods; and, as the night was closing, third
report was heard coming from within the forest ;
| then all was silent
The people gathered together to meet the
hunter on his way home, and hear from his own
lips the story of his encounter with the bear.
But the night has begun, and he does not come.
The hopes of his friends turn to fear, and they
| resolve to fly to his assistance. They start with
lanterns and proceed to the edge of the forest
| remain unanswered They enter the wood and
| scour it in various directions, but without see-
ing or hearing any thing, Then they turn
homeward, sad and dispirited, to resume the
search at dawn, the next day.
More than forty persons, who had been sum
| moned in the course of the night, met at day
break on the morrow, at the spot whence the
| report of the hunters first shot had proceeded
| A bloody track led them on through the forest
ell IL
bear, which they found lying dead in clump
of bushes near swamp. But no hunter was to
| be found They continued on their way, still
keeping to the traces of blood on the ground
which extended beyond the spot where lay the
animal, until in the midst of dense thcket
| they stumbled upon the unfortunate Cantin
The soil trampled and torn up; the bushes
broken and down trodden; the trunks of the
trees hard by, the leaves on the bushes, and the
face Of the earth, CORY with the blood that had
been shed and the mutilated limbs of the de-
| ceased; every thing told Of long and desperate
| conflict, waged hand to- hand between the unfor-
| tunate hunter and his terrible adversary.
From all that could be gathered on the sub
| ject, it is surmised that the horrible tragedy
took place in the following manner: Cantin's
| first shot had wounded the bear severely, and
| driven him to the woods The hunter followed
in pursuit, and fired second time, but from the
4
not have been mortal wound. Then, it is sup
posed, that the bear, finding he WAS being fol
lowed up closely, and urged on by fear and
rage, plunged deeper into the forest, where, al
length, he laid down to recruit his strength, OF
perhaps to die after the custom of his species
the members of which usually seek some retired
spot to breathe their last Accordingly, the
monster selected the densest thicket to be found
in the woods,
Animated by that noble ambition of the hun.
ter who thinks he is sure of his game, and il
| desirous of adding another to his numerous ex
! ploits, Cantin persevered in the chase, notwith
standing the increasing darkness around him
Still, it must have been sufficiently light fol
him to distinguish the CORY track of the bear
but it is highly probable that he stumbled sud
denly upon him in his secure retreat; and the1
in his rage, the animal regained his strength
for a while, and rising confronted his pursuer
before could escape. Still, Cantin must have
had time to fire third shot, but SO hurriedly
that his aim could not tell effectually, the bal
being found in his neck Then he undoubtedly
dubbed his gun and beat the animal on thu
head until the weapon fell shattered from hi
grasp to the ground, where it was discovered by
his friends. The man and the brute must hay,
closed then in the last fearful conflict whicl
terminated so fatally. But disarmed, withou
knife, and having nothing but his stout arm
to oppose to the fury of the bear, the brave fel
lows courage could not save him from the tragic
end he met with
When bear engages in fight, he rises, and
sitting on his launches, strikes with his paw.
like monkey, but uses his claws in addition
like cat; while his enormous muscles indicat
a strength that is almost inconceivable, Hi
claws, projected with a terrible power, tear an,
carry away every thing they fall upon From
these poor Cantin received several terrific blow
before he succumhed the marks of which made
the blood run cold in those who looked upon hi
corpse His hands were torn by the claws, an,
partly devoured by the animals teeth. Th
hair of his head and the scalp hung in piece
about his face, and his right thigh was LITERAL
maDgled into mince- meat. He must have bee
still contending against the bear, when tn
brute, with fearful instinct, directing hi
blows against the mans head, fixed his murder
Gus claws in his face; for, by blow of his righ
paw, he literally stripped off the hunters lei
cheek. One of the claws had penetrated imme
diately beneath the left eye and torn AWAY tn