BEAR HUNTING. 279 



very large. All kinds of hounds have l)een tried, with but one 

 or two exceptions, and none have been found perfectly to an- 

 swer, for the dash and courage of the genuine and thorough-bred 

 races lead them to rush in upon the brute at bay ; and it would 

 seem, by all accounts, that scarcely any number of the bravest 

 hounds can pull down this savage, even after the rifle has done 

 bloody execution on him. 



One gentleman of Louisiana, a passionate amateur of this 

 sport, resolved on attempting the use of Bloodhounds, thinking 

 thereby to force him at once to bay ; and, with much pains, 

 collected nine of these noble animals, and sfet forth in full con- 

 fidence of success. The consequence was, that, being brought 

 to bay in an impenetrable canebrake, where none of the hunt- 

 ers could get up to finish him with shot or stab, the Bloodhounds 

 fell on like fiends, and in less than no time the Bear " killed or 

 crippled seven out of the nine, breaking the shoulders and backs 

 of some, and tearing out the bowels of others — serving some 

 with his teeth, and clipping others with his claws." 



Mr. Thorpe, too, who has contributed two fine papers on this 

 subject to Porter's Hawker, speaks of thirty-five staunch dogs 

 bringing a Bear to bay, and being entirely mauled and defeated, 

 until the hunters finished the job with the rifle. 



The Bulldog is the worst of all dogs, from his want of scent 

 and speed, and his indomitable ferocity, which leads him at once 

 to rush to close quarters, when he gets his quietus in an instant. 



What would be the consequence, were a full pack of the 

 great Pomeranian Boar-hounds, such as we see depicted in 

 Snyder's hunting pieces, set upon him simultaneously, I can- 

 not say ; but, for my own part, I can scarcely conceive the pos- 

 sibility of any animal on earth, unless of the bulk of the Bison, 

 Elephant, or Rhinoceros, standing the combined attack of five- 

 and-twenty couple of these monstrous hounds, or even of a full 

 pack of English Fox or Stag-hounds. 



The great desideratum, however, in Beai'-hunting, is a dog to 

 tease the Bear, by biting his heels, when he flies, and then to 

 worry and snap at him when he turns to bay, avoiding his 



