292 A BANQUET ON BEAR-STEAKS. 



which his broad shoulders were sheltered, he waved his 

 arms in the air, brandishing a formidable bowie-knife, 

 and recommended us by a significant look to observe the 

 completest silence. 



I imitated the Indians who had come, like myself, to 

 be present at this unique species of sport, and climbed 

 a young tree which bent under my weight recollecting 

 that the bears clamber up the larger trees as nimbly as 

 squirrels. As soon as he saw us all in safety, the Indian 

 hunter penetrated into the bear's retreat. 



A moment or two afterwards we heard a hoarse growl, 

 and almost immediately the Indian leapt out of the trunk 

 of the maple, exclaiming that the bear had lived ! Each 

 of us quitted his aerial post, and two Cherokees, gliding 

 through the narrow opening in the tree, attached the 

 animal's hind-paws to a rope made of lianas, and with 

 the assistance of his companions, drew out the carcass of 

 an enormous beast, weighing nearly twenty hundred- 

 weight. With the same cord the grisly bear was sus- 

 pended about two feet above the ground, and each re- 

 sumed his road to the Creek River camp. All along 

 the path the Cherokees cut numerous notches in the trees ; 

 and as soon as we had arrived, four Indians, guiding their 

 steps by these indications, started off to cut up the animal, 

 and bring back the flesh and skin. I do not think I 

 need here insist on the ample banquet provided for us by 

 Master Martin's flesh ; but I seize the occasion to justify 

 the great novelist, Alexandre Dumas, from the reproach 

 of mendacity levelled against him on the subject of bear- 

 steaks, which he asserted that he had eaten. In the 

 United States bears' hams are sold in the market, just as at 

 Paris lamb, venison, or poultry. It is an ordinary dish. 



