The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-12

on her four paws again, gave a bound
was clear of her enemies, and started off
on a clumsy but rapid gallop for the place
Where her cubs met their death.
I thought the old bear was trying TO
escape, and, while 1 haven't much love
for grizzlies, I wished the old lady good
luck because of the plucky fight she had
put up. But l misunderstood the work
lngs of her mind. Love for her cubs had
trst led her to fight and 1t was a linger-
ing hope that she might in some way aid
her otflsprings that caused her desperate
attempt to shake herself free from the
drove. Up the little hill she galloped IN
til she reached the place where the cubs
had met their fate Only splashes of blood
and little bits of fur and flesh were left
of the fat cubs, who had been the pride
of the fierce old mothers heart. The griz-
ely knew that the scattered bits of fur
were the remains of her pets. and paying
no attention to the fast following peccaries
nosed about and smelt the pieces. Then
she felt that her last hope was gone, and
giving a growl, which was a good deal of
groan, again faced the foe.
The peccaries were looking for battle
so was the bear. AS the drove approached
the bear rose upon her hind feet and then
as the line of vicious pigs reached her,
dropped down. She caught a peccary IN
der each of her fore paws as she fell and
grabbed another in her big jaws. That
accounted for three of her enemies. Then
the peccaries came swarming over her,
ripping and crashing and trying to pull
her down. The grizzly wasn't Idle for
the tenth of a second, but swung her big
front paws right and left and grabbing
the peccaries in vice-lke jaws, shook them
as dog does a rat and tossed them over
the heads of the drove 10 lie twisting and
dying on the outskirts of the big fight.
"If that grizzly had been fighting with
her back against a rock 1 think she would
have won the fight, although all hunters
say no single animal can stand against a
drove Of wild pigs. But while she was
rendering an account of the peccarIes in
front, those at the sides and rear were
tearing her so that the blood was run
ming in streams from dozens of wounds.
When the grizzly had cleared O space in
'front.' she whrled around and went for
those who had been harrassing her on the
rear and sides. She made things hum IN
mat direction. Every time she got a grip
on a peccary with her jaw that peccary
was as good as dead, and each blow from
her big paws went a long way towards
accomplishing the same result. The pigs
were fighters, too Several times 1 saw
peccary, who had evidently been wound
ed to the DEATH crawl up nearer the bear
in order to give a final dig with his tusks
before he ended his last fight
carries happened to spring at the grizzly
from the same side at the same instant.
The old fighter was evidently weakened
by loss of blood for she staggered and
fell over The enemy thought she was
done for and in they rushed. They didn't
appreciate the staying powers of the bear.
Two or three were gathered in q deadly
hug in her front paws, her hind legs rip
ped open their skins as If tearing gloves,
and her jaws went through skin, flesh
and bone whenever she fastened them on
one of her enemies. The grizzly was maxi
ing a desperate rally and while on her
back seemed better able to bring into play
her superb fighting qualities. All could
see for the next few seconds was a con-
fused mass of grunting, raging peccaries,
with gllmpses underneath of a fighting
bundle of blood stained brown fur, with
teeth and claws working at their utmost
capacity. Then peccary after peccary roll
ed out of the fight, some with broken
backs others with heads smashed like
egg shells, and still others with long dis
emboweling wounds where the grizzly's
razor-like claws had slasher their way.
There was a last heave, the struggling
mass began to part, and the big grizzly,
one mass of blood and dirt and wounds,
struggled to her feet, disposed of two or
three of the more pertinacious of her enc
mics by slashing blows with her front
was free.
AT first thought the fight was over
and that the grizzly had done a thing alb
solutely unheard of in hunting annals
gone against a drove of peccaries and
come out alive More than half the drove
had fallen, and of those left alive many
were torn and bleeding. Peccaries have
the reputation of never giving up a fight
while one of the drove is alive, but these
particular pigs acted as if they had had
enough for one day. If the old bear had
not been weakened by loss of blood she
would have won out, but she seemed to
be bleeding from fifty places. One of her
eyes was gone, her nose was ripped open,
and altogether she had been fearfully pun
ished.
"Old hunters say that it seems as if an
angry grizzly will fight after 1t is dead,
and, this bear had been in a state of fren-
w since she smelled the bits of fur which
had once been her cubs. The Deccaries
were apparently doubtful whether to be-
gin the fight, but the grizzly settled the
matter by making a charge on the drove.
Whatever hesitation the peccaries may
have had about commencing hostilities,
they were willing to fight If the bear
wanted to- Both sides went at it as if
fresh. The grizzly had a little the better
of the charge, crushing the peccaries be-
meath her paws, and trying hard to fight
HtT way through lAlE niOFG. lhcy pltSu
on her, however, and forced her down.
Over on her back rolled the grizzly, every
ounce fighting desperately; again she
swept herself clear of her enemies and
rose to her feet. I could see that her
other eye had been torn out in the last
struggle but blinded and staggering, the
old bear was still eager to further avenge
her cubs An old tusker of a peccary
charged and was caught by the big paws
while the blinded bear tore at his entrails
with her teeth. Then the drove came in
for the last charge, and, still striking and
biting, the grizzly was overborne. The
tusks and teeth of the peccaries tore her
on all sides as she went down. The gri2-
Ely made one last effort, swept a paw
around throwing a dying peccary outside
the circle of her foes, and then rolled over
on her side dead. In less than five min
utes the peccares had torn The fierce old
bear as completely to pieces as they had
the cubs.
1T was a dearly bought victory. After
the drove had gone l counted the bodies
of over fifty peccaries on the ground. The
trails of blood showed others had suffered