46 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



along only a very short distance when the bear came to a 

 deep canyon; and as it could not carry him conveniently 

 down this steep without changing its hold, it let go the 

 arm and seized him by the neck. This was too much for 

 the equanimity of the stoic, so he gave a loud and piercing 

 yell of terror that rang all over the coppice, and was echoed 

 and re-echoed in thundering tones by the rock-bound prec- 

 ipice and the adjacent woods. This unexpected alarm 

 caused the bear to drop its prey suddenly and to scamper 

 away panic-stricken; and to be sure that it did not return, 

 the hunter gave another unearthly yell, which was thunder- 

 ed in every direction by the trees, shrubs, and rocks. Wild 

 with joy at his miraculous escape, he jumped to his feet, 

 but, on arising, he found himself so stiff and sore that he 

 could scarcely move, while his left arm hung limp and use- 

 less at his side. Making the best of his way out of the 

 woods, he reached camp, and there fell in a swoon, which 

 must have lasted some time, as he could not remember any- 

 thing until he found one of his comrades bathing his face 

 and trying to arouse him. An examination of his body 

 proved that the bones of the forearm were broken, but that 

 there were no injuries on the back beside some deep flesh- 

 wounds which bled freely, arid the temporary paralysis of 

 a few muscles. 



Using their rude surgery, the hunters stopped the bleed- 

 ing, and, leaving him in camp, they started out the next 

 day in search of the assailant, and returned in the evening 

 with a four-year-old female dragging at the end of their 

 lariats. As she was supposed to have done all the harm, 

 her head was cut off and given as a trophy to the victim 

 of her anger, and, if he is not now dead, it adorns his cabin 

 in Humboldt County. 



A man whom I knew well was killed by a grizzly in the 

 Sierra Nevada Mountains. He also was out in search of 

 deer in Butte County, and, meeting a bear, attacked and 

 wounded it, then followed it into the dense shrubbery, 

 where he must have been killed at once by a sudden blow ; 

 for, when found, he displayed no injuries except that the 



