238 IHO GAME OF NOliTII AMERICA. 



him. The Bear also ran, but I got close enough to him to 

 fire, which I did, and the Bear dropped dead, as I thought. 

 Without loading— truly, I was a fool — I walked ui) and 

 struck him on the head with the butf of my gun. Instead 

 of being dead, he was only stunned, and the blow revived 

 him. Getting up, he struck me on the head in return, tear- 

 ing the scalp down over my face and filling my eyes with 

 blood. I fell, and exclaimed, ' Go away, Bear, you have 

 killed me! ' The Bear then ran away, and I lay quiet for a 

 long time. Then, cleaning the blood from my face, I looked 

 around cautiously, and saw him a long way off. I got up, 

 and managed to walk to my tent; but (taking off his cap) 

 you can see how he marked me, yourself." 



A young Indian, three years ago, when out hunting, 

 saw a Bear and two cubs. Being of an adventurous dis- 

 position and desirous of proving his manhood, he attacked 

 the Bear; but, unfortunately, his gun, a double-barreled 

 percussion, missed fire, and flight was his only recourse. 

 The Bear, leaving the cubs, started in pursuit, caught and 

 knocked him down. Fear kept the Indian quiet, and the 

 Bear, after turning him over and walking round him sev- 

 eral times, growling, turned back toward her young. The 

 Indian got wp and ran, which the Bear no sooner noticed 

 than she started in j)ursuit, overtook and threw him down 

 a second time, giving him a severe bite in the shoulder. 

 She repeated her growling performance, and the Indian lay 

 still till she had gone a considerable distance. Then, get- 

 ting up, he threw away his gun and ran to a tree, up which 

 he climbed, just in time to escaj^e the Bear, w ho a third time 

 pursued him. She stood on her hind legs and shook the 

 tree; but the Indian held on till she got tired and walked 

 away, looking back every few minutes to see if he had 

 descended. When she disapi)eared, he crawied down, 

 picked up his gun, and went home, a sadder if not a wiser 

 man. 



A third instance was told me: An Indian and his boy, 

 twelve years old, were on the coast together. They saw 

 a Bear coming, and the father told the boy not to fire until 



