The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-03-11
Selected aaisrrIlauu.
A GRIZZLY BEAR HUNT.

tl1ng IN regard 70 AnSolACSs, Aud16lIus hllC
various other juices, Tom said to me,
among many other things:
81 can fetch you now q man who vii
show you what you want.
ssWhat is that?"
''why, the true original Digger Of Cali
fornia, who digged here for roots before
the Indian digged for grubs, or the Ameri
can for nuggets.
That was what wanted to see, what
had long wanted to see, and he went
. straightway in quest of this man. found
him to be tall Mississippian, stoop-shOul-
dered, with a face made of dry raw-hide
stretched tight, and an enormous shock OF
hair, of which his catskin cap could con-
ceal hardly the half -.s-t -
$50 ye want to.see a live bar, Ell? Well,
I I-reekOn you can see one if you want to
right bad"
He permitted Tom to carry a rife, but
he Hould allow ne 70 take only shotgun,
for he said with Ike rife l would only
wound the bear and endsnger all our lives,
while with load of shot, cody slung,
might blind him and do some good.
He reasoned so well that consented re-
uctantly. 90 3
At the point where We hunted, the Santa
Szsana Mountains are only slender range,
q thousand feet high perhaps, and two
miles wide at the base, flung right down
upon the great mustard plains of the Los
Angeles coast. All along the lower slopes,
and sIf mile out in the plain, are thin
groves of live oak. Early in the morning
the bears are wont to come down among
these groves to search for the lingering
aeorns. 1t was one those sharp morn
ines peculiar TO GaliIornis, and there was
g IL 4
kept along the foot of the Sierra for while,
and then gradually climbed up among the
foot hills.
AT first Reed chatted all the while, but as
the fog began to lift he became taciturn,
and began to walk with slow and cautious
steps glsncing keenly around. Naturally,
we initiated his manner, looking around us
with wise and solemn countenances, and
screwing our faces with a knowing air into
each dark lavine, as if we saw something.
OF course, we saw nothing, and were con-
tinually stumbling over the bushes and
making a superhuous scratching, while
Reed slipped along without looking down.
There was a particular canon, Of vast
size, where Reed said the grizzlies most
did congregate, but it was not safe to en-
ter it until the fog rose. A grizzly will re-
t1eat when he can do so honorably, that is.
at his leisure, but if you come upon him
suddenly he has no alternative but to at
tack. The fog did not lift till 10 o'clock,
BY which time the animals had all crept in
to their caves, and we were obliged to make
day of it among the deer.
As we sat beside aspiring, eating our
lunch, we saw an immense DARK bird soar
ing above Us, when Reed jumped up with
his rife, and brought it wheeling from its
dizzy height, like Corporal Trims hat,
whirIing and Tapping In many a helpless
tumble to the ground. From tap to tip of
Its vast wings, when they were stretched,
i was twelve feet and a bali. They were
white beneath, and there was the true bald
head and the collar of the Vulture, which
it is called on this coast, though naturalists
assert that the real vulture has never been
found on this continent.
1 shall not weary the reader with an &C
count Of the deer we shot, and the deer we
did not shoot, and of the myriads of pretty,
crested, California quals, cursed of all
hunters, which started up continually be-
fore us. We tramped around by wild and
fearful ways, over hills which, on the south
side, were covered with evergreen coppices,
and on the north side, eveHa thousand feet
high, with -fathomlesS Miami loan, SUM-
cracked so that one is continually In dan
ger of putting ones foot IN it.
At night we returned TO the aforesaid
cannon, not without avail, except that I
saw in the sand for the first time, the col
lossal track of the grizzly. 1t is just such
a track as one can make with the clinched
fist, but about twice as large.
1t was several days before we met one,
and Reed enlivened our weary tramp with
stories. -
81 see bar and Californy lion fight
onct. and it was the ungodliest fightin'
ever l did see. The lion he'd jist lay for
him, and when the bar run into him he'd
Jump outer him way, and strike for his
heart right behind his fore shoulder. He
never did nothin' but that, and every time
he fetched away piece, till he eenmost
tore his heart out, when the bar he
give In, and the lion chawed him up.
This is notable instance OF good fem
cling, for the grizzly is a lubberly fellow of
a thousand pounds, while the California
lion, or cougar, seldom exceeds two hun
dred. He also told us of an instance where
he had seen the native UdqueToS lasso
grizzly in order to have a bun.fght To
them it is task of no great difficulty, if
once they can find the bear. The main
point is to ride across his course, and not
In stern chase, for the bear can turn
quicker than the horse can, and seize him.
81 thought, Tommy, we came up here on
bear hunt?"
$50 we did, to be sure, and this is the
most bare hunt ever saw p
/ will detain the reader only to mention
one thing more--the wonderful honey of
Southern California. In a perpendicular
sandstone wall there was a cleft about thir-
ty feet from the ground full of honey, and
for lack of room the bees had built sheer
on the outside of the rock bunch as large
as q b1shel measure. Every now and then
we found live oak dripping with it. and
all the woods were odorous with honey.
Surely Virgil was prophesying of California
when in his 'Pollio" he says that in the
new golden age
Even in the naked ground there were
holes whence the Yermin had dlgged out
copious honey.
The Santa SusaRa Mountains are much
like shed roof, with the slant principally
on one side. There are huge blocks of
sandstone, sometimes an acre in extent,
which compose the roof; and between them
are deep, perpendicular eanons with ledges,
and it was in such one We found our
ouarry at last We were walking down
Reed on the other, out Of our sight mo-
mentarilv, when we saw q very large
ssmeal-nose." He was sitting bolt upright
on his buttocl, perfectly motionless, but
not looking toward us. To speak with
strict Htcralness, be was evidently med1-
tatinc on his latter end. He scented US,
for he kept shifting the air, and presently
he gave one nostril quick brush with one
paw, and the other with the other. He
was an immense fellow, standing up over
seven feet high. Tommy knelt down and
"Ah," he whispered, she is big, dirty
humbug. and I'll drill hole in his pocket,
il 1 don't see Molly any more.
Not, and thou lowest me. Tommy: You
might scratch him only, and then he'd make
as into mince meat
Before he could fire, we heard the click
of Reeds rife, and we knew that that long,
black barrel was levelled somewhere, and
not in vain. Its sharp crack leaped among
the rocks, and there followed heavy moan.
In an instant our bear dropped, and ran in
tn at direction. Then we knew that Reed
had shot another, and had an empty barrel
FORTS mate. Tommy fired at the retreating
bear Int succeeded only in giving it ter