20 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



sharp report of the yielding ice a crash followed and 

 the whole body of frightened beasts were soused promis- 

 cuously together into the water. Such a struggling, and 

 fighting, and screaming, and fluttering, I could never 

 have conceived of. The deer made desperate efforts 

 to escape : throwing their breasts against the edges of 

 the ice, and endeavoring to obtain a hold upon the 

 slippery surface for their feet. The wolves howled, the 

 foxes barked, and the wild cats fastened their claws into 

 the backs of the deer, and leaped from thence upon 

 the firm ice. I was highly amused at the efforts of a 

 bear the only one that remained. Blowing and snort- 

 ing furiously, he floundered about, and threw his paws 

 in every direction ; now trying to mount, like the more 

 active cats, upon the backs of the deer, then throwing 

 his huge paws lovingly round the neck of the smaller 

 animals, with his whole weight, and popping them un- 

 der. He finally succeeded in mounting upon the ice, 

 and, stopping an instant, uttered a tremendous growl, 

 shook the water from his shaggy sides, and started off at 

 a dog-trot. But danger was in poor bruin's front as 

 well as his rear. A shot entered his brain before he 

 had advanced ten paces, and he rolled over on his back, 

 moaned a few times, then breathed his last. 



When the last of the terrified victims was despatched, 

 the hunters began the work of skinning and scalping. 

 The shore was lined with the bodies of the slain. Par- 

 ties went out and collected those that fell during the pro- 

 gress of the hunt ; and when all were in, they were 

 counted ; seven bears, eleven panthers, and foxes, deer, 

 and wolves, innumerable, were the result of the day s 



