IN TIIR FAR U'EST. 77 



it drop dead at his feet. On examining- his own wounds he 

 found that the left arm was severely injured, and that the 

 flesh was torn rather severely on parts of the arms and thighs. 

 As they were all flesh wounds, howerer, he congratulated him- 

 self on his escape; yet they were severe enough to lay him 

 up for two months, and to make him go to the settlements for 

 surgical aid and attendance. 



A man whom I met in Montana was made a cripple for life 

 by a bear because he shot one of her cubs. lie was taking 

 the young one away, when the mother overtook him and 

 attacked him without a moment's hesitation. The struggle 

 was a severe one, but the hunter finally caught her by the 

 throat, and pressing on that part with all his might soon 

 reduced her to such a condition of weakness that he was 

 enabled to take out a large pocket-knife which he carried, 

 and to cut her jugular vein. When the contest was over 

 he was so exhausted from his wounds and the loss of blood 

 that he fainted, and it was only by making the most 

 strenuous efforts that he was able to get home. An exami- 

 nation proved that the animal had cut some of the tendons of 

 the right foot, and broken some of the ankle-bones, besides 

 lacerating the arms and chest. 



Another individual of whom I heard in Colorado followed 

 a wounded bear into the undergrowth, and was attacked by it. 

 His rifle being unloaded, he was unable to use any other 

 means of defence than a knife, but before he could inflict any 

 damage with that he was overpowered and injured so severely 

 that he died in two days after being brought home. When 

 found by one of his neighbours he was apparently dead, nor 

 did he ever recover consciousness, for the skull was injured in 

 two places, as if it had been struck with a hammer. 



Accidents less serious than these frequently occur, but thev 

 are too often due to want of caution, and to supposing an 

 animal killed when it is only wounded seriously enough to 

 make it desperate. 



The only instance in which I was chased by a black bear 

 occurred in Washington Territory, and that taught me a 

 lesson I have not forgotten. Having expressed a desire to an 



