38 HUNTING THE GRISLY. 



lar packs of bear hounds. Such a pack in- 

 cludes not only pure-bred hounds, but also 

 cross-bred animals, and some sharp, agile, 

 hard-biting fierce dogs and terriers. They 

 follow the bear and bring him to bay but do 

 not try to kill him, although there are dogs of 

 the big fighting breeds which can readily 

 master a black bear if loosed at him three or 

 four at a time ; but the dogs of these southern 

 bear-hound packs are not fitted for such work, 

 and if they try to close with the bear he is 

 certain to play havoc with them, disembowelling 

 them with blows of his paws or seizing them 

 in his arms and biting through their spines or 

 legs. The riders follow the hounds through 

 the canebrakes, and also try to make cutoffs 

 and station themselves at open points where 

 they think the bear will pass, so that they 

 may get a shot at him. The weapons used 

 are rifles, shotguns, and occasionally revolvers. 

 Sometimes, however, the hunter uses the 

 knife. General Wade Hampton, who has 

 probably killed more black bears than any 

 other man living in the United States, fre- 

 quently used the knife, slaying thirty or forty 

 with this weapon. His plan was, when he 

 found that the dogs had the bear at bay, to 

 walk up close and cheer them on. They 

 would instantly seize the bear in a body, and 

 he would then rush in and stab it behind the 

 shoulder, reaching over so as to inflict the 

 wound on the opposite side from that where 

 he stood. He escaped scathless from all these 

 encounters save one, in which he was rather 



