New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1856-06-02
Chased by a Bear.

A
The following extract from E The Hunters Feast,
forms the conclusion Of narrative by the hunter
naturalist about o 4 Deer Hunt in Dugout.' Y
He and taDick were after venson IN their canoe by
torch-lght:
eve had scarcely passed this point, when nv at
tendon was attracted by pair of fiery orbs that glis
tened out Of some low bushes upon the left bank 81
the saw that they were the eyes Of some ami
mall but what kind Of an animal could not guess.
knew they were not the eyes of deer. Their pecu
liar ntlation their lesser size, the wide space be
tween them -all convinced me they were not deer,
eyes. Moreover, they moved at times as il the heat
Ct the animal was carried about in irregular circles
This is never the case with the eyes Of the deer which
either pass hurriedly from point to point or remain
with d liked and steaafast gaze. ;5Fs s5s5 5 4#
y knew, therefore, it was no deer; but no matter
what !; It was some wild creature, and all such are
alike the game OF the prairie hunter .#58
E took aim, and pulled trigger. While doing 50 I
heard the voice OF my companion, warning me- 81 \
thought, not to fire. wondered at this admonltion
but it was then too late to heed IT. for ~ mad heen
uttered almost simultaneously with the report q my
rife. =z ss$4. IL !.
first looked to the bank, to witness the ef1ect OF
my shot. To my great surprise, the eyes were stu
there cleaning from the bushes as brightly as ever
Companion had somewhat disconnected me butt still
believed that bullet must have sped truly as 1t mad
| been delivered With q good aim i'm,
AS Turned to Dick for an xplanation, new sound
4
causing me no slight feeling of alarm 1t was sound
not unlike that sometimes uttered by terrified swine,
but louder and more threatening knew it WE'LL
knew it was the snort of the grizzly bear
0ftall American animals, the grizzly bear is the
most to be dreaded Armed or unaTmed, man is no
match for him, and even the courageous hunter of
these parts shurs the encounter This was why my
companion admonshed me not TO fire. thought 7
had missed it lit was not My bullet had hit and
stung the fierce brute to madness and quick crack
ing among the bushes was Immediately followed by
heavy plunge: the bear was in the water! 's53
6 Good heaven, he's after us II cried Dick in ac-
cents Of alarm at the time propeing the dugout
with all his might. 81 ia e .s II ~
1t proved true enough that the bear was after u.s.
and the very first plunge had brought his nose almost
up to the side of the canoe. However, few well -d
rected strokes of the paddles set us in quick notion
and we were soon gliding rapidly down stream follow
ed by the enraged animal, that every now and then
uttered one of his fierce snorts. 4
!. What rendered our situation terrible one was,
that we could not now see the bear, nor tell how far
he might be from us All to the rear of the canoe
was Of ptchy darkness in Of the screen
Of birch-bark. No object could be distinguished in
that direction, and it was only BY hearing him that
we could tell be some yards Jm The snorts
however, were more or less distinct, as heard amid
the varying Of the WATERFALL and sometimes they
seemed as if the snout from which they proceeded
was close up to our stern. G5F
4 We knew that if he once laid his paw upon the