Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-11-12
TIE EXCITEMENT OF BEAR-sHooTING
IN CANADA,

| growth OF ceQarS, IHlASu Will sPi wv oi-u
pine. The trees stood close together, with
low branches, and were plentifully inter-
spersed with windfalls, lying breast.hlgh
on rotten branches, and forming an ad-
mirable natural abatis against our advanc.
ing column of two armed with AK and
shotgun.
George moves on like shadow straight
for the squirrel that still chatters and
scolds and swears from the depths OF the
cedar Jungle. / veer to the right. We
worm ourselves between the thick trunks,
and under the thicker branches.
A low "Sh!" catches my ear. I turn
toward George. "Here he is !" is written
all over his face. He points directly
ahead, then shakes his ak, and points and
points again.
look, stretch up and look, crouch down
and look, but see nothing save the tree.
trunks.
George grows impatient. He thinks I
do not understand him.
ale voici Here he is !" he Kisses.
But Bruin hears as well as l. "Non lie
VOLTA There he goesl !"
hear q whiue and a grunt that remind
me of menagerie, and through the thick
cedar trunks and the dead branches of a
fallen pine catch a fitting glimpse of sham
bling blackness.
fire snap shot, as l would at wood
cock darting through the alder tops. The
smoke hangs under the thick branches, and
shuts out all before me.
| ."He's down Nous Pavons !" yells
George. The report of the gun has broken
the spell of the forest silence, and George
changes from serpent to a tiger.
4"No," he cries; "he's off again. Fire !"
fire my left barrel through the smoke
\ with "eye of faith" and examining in a
couple of fresh cartridges, George and l
rush on, if any mode of progress through a
tangled cedar swamp can be called rush.
We kick and wrest off the dry dead
branches, scramble over the fallen pine !;
but the bear Nowhere sign of him.
Nothing but forest and silence.
George keeps on do my best to fol-
low, He gl1des along like cat, in one
hand an uplifted ak, descending now and
then to sever an opposing bough. He gets
over the ground two feet to my one.
"Le VOLTA, qui sen va There he goes
again Venez! Come ON !" cries George !;
and 1 perform the speediest coming on of
which am capable Slow enough it is,
though. Every few steps the tangled
branches of fallen cedar must be burst
through, but on l press and scramble and
tumble and crawl till George is reached.
He stands on a prostrate tree, ak upraised,
head bent forward and to one side-an
admirable statue of alertness.
"Ecoutez Listen !" he whispers.
A moments stiffness. Then q cracking,
loud and near, up the hillside. George
iumps through the thicket, and springs up
the slope like flash.
Follow him? 1 could as easily fit up to
heaven without wings. So I scramble on
through the level swamp. 1t is said
ssbIood will tell ~: can swear that weight
will. The burden of my two hundred
pounds handicapped me in this swamp race
with a bear. Every thicket I crawled
through, every windfall l scrambled over,
told on me, till at last l was forced to halt.
With perspiration bursting from every
pore, and breath only caught in gasps, |
leaned against tree, and imagined the
feelings of the losing horse in race. My
heart beat loudly as the drumming of
partridge, the whole forest seemed to re-
vertebrate with its quick thud, thud, thud,
and the blood leaped to head and temples
| till my brain was in whirl.
While the trees were dancing before my
reeline sight | thought, "What an un-
lucky wight am l ] After twenty years of
small game shooting, to at last actually
meet bear in his haunts in the forest, get
within thirty yards of him, on the point OF
gratifying one of the pet ambitions OF my
! life. and then to bang away couple OF
shots like a fool with the buck ague, while
my noble quarry coolly makes of, and
! am left empty.hauded "
Worse than that, the brute runs away
so slowly that George sees him again and
again-keeps up with him, IN fact Alas,
my st too, too solid flesh" Were l a
light, nimble fellow like George, | might
have shot q bear-yes, a half-dozen times
over. And then my gun. What fool, to
/ bling little snipe-gun into the woods in
quest of the king OF the forests, the beast
before which all others quail, from the
Atlantic to the Mississippi, and then to
fire away at this lordly game as I would
pull trigger on a woodcock One bird
missed, up hips another. But where shall
fnl another bear, when l have been all
my life getting up with this first one !?
Then, if | had only shot him, what yarns
l would spin to my sporting friends
"Le voici encore Here he is again !"
sounded Georges voice, loud and clear,
through the forest, and cut short my
reveris.
Nv heart stilled, and my brain steadied
in an instant. Again sprung forward. :" ]
may get him yet may retrieve my for.
tunes" thought I, as l dragged, crawled
and pushed myself ahead through the un-
derbrush.
George hears me crashing along, and
side 60 Has
maxim down by the lake. Right ahead o
yer. Look out for him..
l scramble on, impelled by one single,
strong desire-to get one good, fair shot at
that bear.
keep on and on. Not word from
George. At my right, through the leaves,
I catch bright glimpses of the lake, Sleep
ing in the sunlight. 1 slacken my pace.
All is silent as sanctuary. Well, the
bear is off, and George with him. III
keep on slowly, cool off, and perhaps get
nay second wind that we read about,
whatever that may be-" So thinking, l
sling myself up on fallen cedar that lay
breast-high across my route, swing my
legs over, sit and rest for a moment, then
leisurely drop down on the other side.
Kadr-r-r-r-r!n And from under a
ceQar only seven PAGES away mass Oh
blackness springs for me, sudden and swift.
I have not time to take step. Had
time allowed, there is no opportunity.
The fallen cedar is at my back; l am
pinioned between its branches. But no
thought of retreat or dodgipg enters my
mind, There is time but for one single
impulse, and that is-shoot. My gun is in
nv right hand, both barrels full cock. In
stantiy 1 pitch it to my shoulder, yet in
this instant the whole forest scene, with
the on.dashing, black brute in the center,
is accurately and indelibly photographed
on my sight. see the beast leaping on
all tours, headquarters high, fore-shoulders
low, head down and askew, snout turned
to right, lip curled up ike snarling dog,
teeth chattering. and black eyes cleaning
with devilish light. On comes the mon
ster with his vibrating, grunting growl,
Knar-r.r-r.ri As the gun swings up to
my face I glance along the barrels, and see
the swapping teeth of the leaping brute
within four feet of my gun-muzzle. ] fre.