The Black Bear 43 



men were inexperienced, one being a rafts- 

 man who came down the river, and the other 

 a man from Vicksburg. He was not able to 

 learn the particulars in the last case, but the 

 raftsman came too close to a bear that was at 

 bay, and it broke through the dogs, rushed at 

 and overthrew him, then lying on him, it bit 

 him deeply in the thigh, through the femoral 

 artery, so that he speedily bled to death. 



But a black bear is not usually a formidable 

 opponent, and though he will sometimes 

 charge home he is much more apt to bluster 

 and bully than actually to come to close quar- 

 ters. I myself have but once seen a man who 

 had been hurt by one of these bears. This was 

 an Indian. He had come on the beast close 

 up in a thick wood, and had mortally wounded 

 it with his gun ; it had then closed with him, 

 knocking the gun out of his hand, so that he 

 was forced to use his knife. It charged him 

 on all fours, but in the grapple, when it had 

 failed to throw him down, it raised itself on 

 its hind legs, clasping him across the shoulders 

 with its fore-paws. Apparently it had no in- 

 tention of hugging, but merely sought to draw 

 him within reach of its jaws. He fought des- 

 perately against this, using the knife freely, 

 and striving to keep its head back; and the 



