St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-06-30

savage state as when Columbus discov-
cred the continent. The Indians were
further east, Oh the Snake river, OF
! further west, on the Columbia and its
branches, and only detached parties
were to be feared. While this was a
| great burden off my mind, the bears
| and panthers were so numerous that ]
was in a state Of constant alarm through
the day, and dared not shut both ewes
to sleep at night / had q pack and a
riding mule, and on the first night OF
my arrival, while I had bright fire
burning, and the animals were tethered
within a stones throw, a panther
sprang upon old Bob, my riding mule,
and clawed him in a terrible way be-
fore | could get near enough to settle
him with bullet. Three Or four bears
prowled around my camp all night, and
the screams of panther kept my eyes
wide open until daybreak. However,
after had thinned out the colony by a
dozen or fifteen, the varmints began to
| give me rest.
On the tenth or eleventh day of my
stay | left camp at an early hour in the
morning loaded for bear. | followed
the valley up for half mile, and then
| turned into a ravine which was the bed
of a creek during the melting of snow.
1t assembled very gradually, and had
been following it for half an hour when
it took a sharp bend to the right. At
this point there was hole in the right
| hand cliff, and as | halted to look at it
| wondered if it was not the home of
some savage beast. [ had moved on
| about five hundred feet when grizzly,
| which had been lying down among the
| broken rocks, suddenly rose before me-
| was looking for this kind, but his APP
pearance was so sudden and he showed
fight so quickly that my heart was
beating altogether tho fast as | pulled
| up for shot. 1t had to be snap shot,
for not more than thirty feet separated
us. Mine was a singled-barreled rifle,
and | also had knife and revolver.
The bullet struck bruin in the left
shoulder, and he sprung around a
dozen times like top. was reload
ing when he got ready to form closer
acquaintance. He had worked up the
rayine and had worked down, and we
were now a hundred feet apart. Iknew
| could not finish loading before he
reached me, and there was no other
way but to run for it and hope chat he
was too seriously wounded to overtake
me.
In those days / could run like horse,
and / was accustomed to all sorts of
ground, but hadn't made ten jumps on
this occasion before my foot slipped on
a stone and | went down with crash.
Old grizzly was within twenty feet of
me when / got up, and / pitched
my rife into his face as I took
new start. The roar he uttered lifted
me a foot high, and made dozen ex-
traordinary leaps, but it wasn't a
minute before | realized that he was
holding his ground, if not gaining
a little. No man can guess how far a
wounded and enraged beast will pur-
sue him. | believe could have kept
clear of this bear down to the mouth of
the ravine, but if he pursued me far
enough he would be certain to over
take me. made up my mind as ran
that would try the hole in the cliff.
1t was large enough for me to enter,
and might be large enough for the
bear, but once inside ] could turn and
use my revolver. Old grizzly was
hardly more than rod behind me
when | pumped into the hole and
scrambled ahead on hands and knees.
After going in about ten feet the hole
turned to the left and narrowed con-
siderably, and seven Or eight feet
further on came to the end. As did |
SO my hand encountered something soft |!
and furry, and there was a hiss and spit |
that told me that kitten panther was
present. felt all around me in the /
black darkness, but the kitten was the
only living object. He was little fell
low, not more than four or six weeks
old, but ready to bite and scratch if my
fingers touched him.
The grizzly did not follow at once
into the cave. It was five minutes be-
fore | heard him working his way in,
and by this time had recovered my
breath and nerve. I was certain he
could not reach me within six feet, and
vas rather glad to hear him wheeling
Ind snorting as he pulled himself
along. By and by saw his eyes shine.
lie could come no further. His
laws dug at the rocks and his roars of
age deafened me, but / was safe. Tt
vas now my turn, and | gave him two
hots from the revolver which caused
Tim to redouble his roars of rage.
FOR about ten minutes / felt very queer
'ver the situation, but all of a sudden
struck me that / had gained nothing
y the change. In place of being a
fugitive ! was a prisoner. The bear
bowed no disposition to retreat, and
now became aware of the fact that
he cave had a rank smell and that the I
ody of the bear prevented the fresh |
ir from entering. / felt that / m,sst |
rive him out, and / did very foolish
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