282 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



mately hem in their victims in such a manner as to leave 

 them no choice but that of being dashed to pieces down 

 the steep and rocky sides of the ravine, or falling a prey- 

 to the fangs of their merciless pursuers. 



BEAR HUNTING ADVENTURE OF ICHABOD MERRITT. 



IN December, 1820, there being a light snow, Merritt, 

 with two other companions, (one of whom had been a 

 sailor,} while upon a hunting excursion, came upon the 

 track of a full grown bear, which, after following for a 

 time, they found had ascended a huge white-wood (or 

 poplar) tree. This had been broken off some seventy feet 

 from the ground, and it was supposed that the bear must 

 have secreted itself within its hollow at the top. Un- 

 willing to lose their game, and ready for any daring en- 

 terprise, they looked about for ways and means to accom- 

 plish their object. They first proposed cutting the tree 

 down. But this at the root was sound and not less than 

 eighteen feet in circumference. This with only one axe, 

 and that a dull one, they could not accomplish that day, 

 and if left over night the bear would escape. The sailor 

 proposed that if a smaller tree could be felled and lodged 

 against the large one, he would climb it to the top and 

 shoot the bear. A beech tree was then cut and lodged 

 agreeable to their wishes. The sailor, who had often 

 ascended the waving mast, had now a chance to show his 

 intrepidity upon a forest tree. He prepared himself for 



