New-York tribune., 1880-02-29

and habitat This bear is sluggish in its character
keeping TO the densest parts of the WOODS whoro
the shrubbery is most profuse, and passes away
large portion Of its time in doing or sleeping In
caverns or hollow trees. Ii is omnivorous In TASTE
eating ants grubs, eggs berrles, roots, grapes ana
fruit generally, mice. mOles, squirrels, ana otDer
small animals. Its greatest weakness Is Iondhess
for honey TO obtain which it will face the attacks
of all the bees between the Rocky Mountains ana
the Pacific 1t is also fond of sugar, and Will hgh
6ercelv for the smallest lump. An angry bear is q
dangerous customer. 1t may not be able to do much
harm TO an active man, but in many cases, will in
0ict formidable wound. The auther himself
once had q narrow escape which he relates as fol-
lows:-
The only instance in which / was chased by g
black bear occurred in Washington Territory, and
that taught lesson have not forgotten. Havlng
expressed desire 10 an acquaintance. VINO isIhcu
in Summer and hunted III Winter, to go on pear
ing" expedition, he kindly assented to my proposal
and made preparations for 1t by cooking plenty OF
food and securing two mustangs, or cayuses' as
they are called in the Northwest, 70 transport our
blankets and provisions out and our game BACK as
we intended to be absent two or three days. our
armament consisted of muZZle-oadlng rlne winch
! carried and a shotgun borne by my comrades our
food was confined to boiled mutton and homemade
bread; and our companions to two small active ana
noisy curs which thought it necessary 10 bark at
every bird and animal they saw. Having started at
6 a. m we found ourselves about twelve miles from
forest of those gigantic frs and spruces Indigenous
to the Northwest After resting LOT lew mnutes
to load our guns and to eat simple re-
mast which was washed down with water
we went searching for bear signs, anu
soon found them plentiful enough; for the berries
were cleaned eff quite large patch OF Dushes, oiu
cealed grubs and ants. and some OF the young tIees
contained marks Of large males teeth, winch was
sdyertispQ his presence and p0rtllness by piacnC
his sgn-manuai as high upon them as he could
reach. 1t is q pecuarity of the male that lie VIII
sometimes leave the impressions oil ms teeth as hg
nm on some of the undergTowth as he can reach rs
II he were desirous of making his dimensions known
10 other members of his family What TINS siehnes
no one seems 10 know, though tue suIlhises " m aig
mapy Having noted these, the dogs. which had
been previously kept at heel, were set to work to
arouse the advertiser and in less than ten minutes
they were yelpng ID 9eT s1o and NV
companion in the opposite, so that we might head
off the game should 1T break from straight course
After running for few minutes, saw dalA oD,
ject lodging through the thick shrubbery ana
Judging from its size that il was the animal whose
life sought raised my rifle, pointed u as steauy
as nv palpita tation would permit and banged away.
When tie echo of the report ceased heard aciasn
ing of the bushes and this followed by apainiu
vicious grOwl Moving forward cautiously, ana
peerng closely into the shrnbbery saw the lover OF
berries stretched on its side and gaspng Vi9eh'Y'
az if in the throes of mortal dlssoutlon ms III
duced me to lay down my rlfe ana seZhg the iaiIen
limb of a tree which was large, crooked and nm
wieldy | gave BTun u tremendous Whack WIN 1T
on the occipital region but no sooner was tc Diow
raised the club to give 1t second olow on tne mean
but the animal not only parred 1t with lts paw out
broke il short in my nlnd oisT pshg @gvss gl that did it
i'm admirable style, for | clambered rapidly over
felled trees Of large dimensions eaped the smaller
ones and tore through the thick undergrowtn'
which Iashed nv face with incisve sharpness, until,
in n short time, reached clump of the MANY
trunked vinemaple, and up one OF these cam cail-
bered with a speed of which afterwaTd telt pl0lid
The bear followed close my track, ana from lts
grows expected to be in its embrace every mo
ment: : but the wound affected its coursing powers,
and | was safe in nv perch before IT reached the
foot. / felt perfectly SAFE Where was,
as the trunk was too small for bear TO
climb and the prot1uding tongue ana ueep eISp55
of INV pursuer proved that my leaden piiI nae
sapped the vieor of its frame. Had been hero OF
the chivaric school | might have descended ana
ended the contest by hand-to-hand encounter;
hut having scruples about risking my person or
INV clothes was content to remain where was
Which the woods thoy reechOed many times. III
few mnutes-though it seemed a long while to me
heard an answering call and IN short time aiter
the Yelling of the ours BrulD, on hearing the iat
fer concluded that the wisest course would be To
retreat and this it did, though slowly and very
labOriously. ,,
when nv companion arrived secured his shotgun
and started in pursuit of the jailer overlook IL IN
a few minutes the dogs having brought II 70 nay ny
nippug at il whenever 1t attempted TO escape ana,
on a good opportunity being pfesented Iet IL nave
both barrels at short range III RAPID succession ana
# fell dead in its track. On looking or Where my
II the'6lst time found that the bullet had passed
through the anterior portion OF the wlndplpe from
side 10 side This what had saved me, as us
breathing too difficult TO enable IL 10 run rap
Idly, or even to climb wei.
The author seems TO cherish little affection for the
buffalo although he gives an interesting account OF
his la bits and character In his social disposition,
the buffalo closely resembles the common domestic
cattle of the country. He is gregarious i'll bab ana
travels in herds, which have been estimated to con-
tain perhaps hundred thousand animals. he herds
are not now so large they formerly were, Dut they
are still reckOned by hundreds, presenting grand
and imposing sight, as they move toward the nortn
or south in their annual migrations. The mothers
seem TO have very slight affection for their young
and often abandon them on the first alarm. The
nales however are resolute protectors, and care
fnlv puard the herd from all foes. The calves are
easily dOmesticated, when treated with Kindness; ;
the flesh can be greatly improved; the males OF
admit age are said to be good as oxen for plough
ing though very stubborn; and the milk OF the COW
is rich and sweet, yielding an unusual abundance OF
cream. The buffalo is hunted in the West by stalk
inc. aud is run down on horseback. The indians
nrefer TO surround them on horseback, and slay
them by wholesale until they become weary OF the
task
The half-breeds of portions of British America
organize regular hunts, and Oh such occasions iney
take all their household effects WIN thein' me
women and children are slowed away IN rude carts,
and the men ride the mustangs which TO play so
prominent part in the chase. As the long caval-
cade winds over the grass-clad prairie, made gay
with many species of brilliant wildiOwers. 1t pre-,
sents an inspirting sight, and recalls IN small
way. the advance Of an army. When 1t reaches the
buffalo-grounds camp is pitched in convehle4t
localjty close 10 wood and water. If possible and,
after that is done the leader takes his to the lee
ward of herd and distributes them in such manner
that they may be able to drive it toward the encanP-
ment in order to avoid as much trouble as p0Sslpe
in gathering up the meat. They sometimes place
buffalo chips" In such manner on the pralre as
TO make them look like men, and. when the heId
sees these il breaks away from them and heads
perhaps for the camp, where another party of hunt
ers is ready to receive it, When everything is ar