DIVISION TWO — COLONIAL. I49 



In due time a great shaggy grizzl}^ came, and went to turning over the 

 hives and feasting himself on the honey. When our doughty hunters saw 

 his formidable size they wilted — kept as still as mice, watched him rob the 

 hives, and let him depart without their ever firing a gun. The fact was, 

 that if they shot the bear and did not succeed in killing him at once but 

 only wounded him, the chances were that he would tear and claw the shanty 

 down and kill or mangle every man of them. But the jokers (those who 

 had never faced a wild bear themselves) would have their fun about the 

 " rifle team " watching a bear while he robbed a bee ranch, and not daring 

 to fire a shot at him. It was said facetiousl)^ they didn' t want to hurt the 

 bea?' ; they only wanted to see the bear and bee circus, which beat anything 

 Barnum ever got up. 



See article on the Mount lyOwe Railway, chapter 23, for another "bear 

 story " told by Governor Markham on the " Rifle Team," with himself in 

 the stampede. 



RABBIT HUNTS. 



In 1876-77-78, rabbit hunts were among the sporting events of the 

 colony, in which W. O. Swan, Joseph Wallace, Al. Carr, Charley Watts, 

 Charlie Bell, Will Clapp, Whit. Elliott, and others are mentioned as partic- 

 ipants, with Arturo Bandini as chief director. A sketch in the Star of May 

 29, 1889, speaks thus of this matter : 



" As to hunting," exclaimed another veteran, " I wish you could have 

 enjoyed some of our rabbit coursing. There was no such organization then 

 as the ' Valley Hunt,' but every man kept a hound or other dog, and when 

 our meets occurred, you would see crowds of lyos Angeles people on hand 

 to enjoy the sport. We used to assemble at the twin oaks west of Romayne 

 Williams's present home [Hill Avenue north of Mountain street], and the 

 whole country was then open to us. 



' ' Fifteen rabbits a day was no uncommon catch ; and we used to stim- 

 ulate the hunters, not by offering such trifling prizes as the animal's tail or 

 a wreath, but something useful, as well as ornamental. For instance, 

 Charley Watts once carried off in triumph a set of harness won as a trophy 

 of his hound's fleetness. Things were run on a substantial basis in those 

 days. Colonel Winston and Arturo Bandini led the heavy hunting squad 

 by bagging the large game — wild cats, foxes, coyotes, bear, etc." 



