Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-03-10
Seierteo sai5rflIanu.
A GRIZZLY BEAR HUNT.

zette, l. found In Los Angeles my old
friend Tom. After We had done the proper
thing in regard to Angelica. Anaheim, and
various other juices, Tom said to me,
among many other things:
II can fetch you now o man who will
show you what you want"
''Whst 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 I
had long wanted to see, and he went
stralghtway 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-
eeal hardly the half
$50 ye want to see live bar, eh? Well,
l reckon you can see one if You want to
right bad.
He permitted Tom to carry rifle, but
he would allow ne 70 take only a shotgun,
for he sa'ia With -t,e rifle / would only
wound the bear and endanger 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.
At the point where we hunted, the Santa
susanna Mountains are Only a slender range,
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 ali 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
acorns- Ii was one of those sharp morn
ings peculiar to California. and there was a
fog of almost London deDseJess, so we
kept along the foot of the Sierra for a 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 glaneing keenly around. Naturally,
We initiated his manner, looking around us
with wise and solemn countenances, and
screwing our faces with knowing air into
each dark Iavine, 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 congrecate, but it was not safe to en-
ter it until the fog rose. A grizzly will re-
treat 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 hadsall crept in
to their caves. and We were obliged to make
q day of II among the deer.
As we sat beside spring, 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,
whirling and Tapping in many a helpless
tumble to toe ground. From tip to tip of
its vast wings, when they were stretched,
it was twelve feet and a half They were
white beneath, and there was the true bald
head and the collar of the vulture, which
it is called on TINS coast, though naturalists
as ert that the real vulture has never been
found on this continent.
/ shall not weary the reader with an ac-
count ef the deer we shot, and the deer we
did not shoot, and of the myriads of pretty,
crested, California quails, cursed of all
hunters, which started up continually be-
fore us. We tramped around by Wild and
fearful ways, over hills which, on TIE south
side, were covered with evergreen coppices,
and on the north side, eveHa thousand feet
high, with fathomless Miami loan, sun
ge- of putting ones foot in it.
at night we returned to the aforesaid
cannon, not without avail, except that
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 enliyened our weary tramp with
stories.
81 see bar and a Californy lion fight
onct. and it was The ungod lest fightin'
ever 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, tlli he eenmost
tore his heart out when tAe bar he
give in, and &he lion chawed him up.
This is n notable instance of good fem
cling, for the grizzly Is lubberly fellow of
thousand pounds. while the California
lion, or cougar, seldom exceeds two hun
dred. He also told rs of an instance where
he had seen the native uaqueros lasso a
grizzly in order to have a bull fight. To
them it Is task of no great difficulty, il
ence 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
q bear hunt?"
80 we did, to be sure, and this is the
most bare hunt ever saw
will detain the reader only to mention
one thing more-the wonderful honey OF
Southern California In a perpendicular
sandstone wall there was q cleft about thir.
ty feet from the ground full of honey, and
L Il xrL- l. n Il.
on the outside of the rock bunch as large
Is bashsl measure. Every now and then
we found a 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
"H durQ quereus sudaJHnf roscidd uelld.'
Even In the naked ground there were
holes whence the vermin had digged out
copious honey.
The Santa Susana Mountains are much
like o shed roof with the slant principally
ON one side. Thsre are huge block
sandstone. sometimes an acre in exte
which compose the roof; and between them
are deep, perpendicular canons with lodges,
and it was In such a one We found oul
quarry at last We were walking down
among the small trees, We on one side and
4sCCu On tAO Oti-CAf O0t vi Jul olknt nlO-
mentarily, when We saw q very large
"meal-noss." He was sitting bolt upright
on his buttock, perfectly motionless, but
not looking toward us. To speak with
strict hteralness, he was evidently medi-
tating on his latter end. He scented us
for he kept shifting the air, and presently
he gave one nostril a 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
cooked his piece.
"Ah," be whispered, ''he is big. dirty
humbug, and Ill drill hole in his pocket,
if don't see Molly any more"
mot, and thou lowest me, Tommy. You
might scratch him only, and then he d make
us into mincc meat
Before lie could fire, We heard the clicl
of Reeds rife, ard 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 m oan