230 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



serving Baptiste with his gun ready, anxiously watching 

 a safe opportunity to fire, he cried out, Tire ! tire ! mon 

 eher frere, si tu m dimes. Tire, pour T amour du bon 

 Dieu ! A la tete ! d la tete ! This was enough for Le 

 Blanc, who instantly let fly, and hit the bear over the 

 right temple. He fell, and at the same moment dropped 

 Louisson ; but he gave him an ugly scratch with his 

 claws across the face, which for some time afterwards 

 spoiled his beauty. After the shot, Le Blanc darted to 

 his comrade's assistance, and with his couteau de chasse, 

 quickly finished the sufferings of the man-stealer, and 

 rescued his friend from impending death ; for, with the 

 jxception of the above-mentioned scratch, he escaped 

 uninjured. They commenced the work of dissection with 

 right good will ; but on skinning the bear, they found 

 scarcely any meat on his bones ; in fact the animal had 

 been famishing, and in a fit of hungry desperation, made 

 one of the boldest attempts at kidnapping ever heard 

 of in the legends of ursine courage. 



SHOOTING WILD TURKEYS, 



WHILST speaking of the shooting of turkeys, says Mr. 

 Audubon, I feel no hesitation in relating the following 

 occurrence, which happened to myself. While in search 

 of gam 1 , one afternoon late in autumn, when the males 

 go together, and the females are by themselves also, I 

 heard the clucking of one of the latter, and immediately 



