106 MAMMALIA—BEAR. 
regard him with the utmost terror. His extreme tenacity of life renders 
him still more dangerous; for he can endure repeated wounds which would 
be instantaneously mortal to other beasts, and, in that state, can rapidly 
pursue his enemy. So that the hunter who fails to shoot him through the 
brain, is placed in a most perilous situation. 
One evening the men in the hindmost of one of Lewis and Clark’s canoes 
perceived one of these bears lying in the open ground about three hundred 
paces from the river ; and six of them, who were all good hunters, went to 
attack him. Concealing themselves by asmall eminence, they were able 
to approach within forty paces unperceived ; four of the hunters now fired, 
and each lodged a ball in his body, two of which passed directly through the 
lungs. The bear sprang up and ran furiously with open mouth upon them ; 
two of the hunters, who had reserved their fire, gave him two additional 
wounds, and one breaking his shoulder-blade, somewhat retarded his mo- 
tions. Before they could again load their guns, he came so close on them, 
that they were obliged to run towards the river, and before they had gained 
it the bear had almost overtaken them. Two men jumped into the canoe ; 
the other four separated, and concealing themselves among the willows, 
fired as fast as they could load their pieces. Several times the bear was 
struck, but each shot seemed only to direct his fury towards the hunter; at 
last, he pursued them so closely that they threw aside their guns and 
pouches, and jumped from a perpendicular bank,.twenty feet high, into the 
river. The bear sprang after them, and was very near the hindmost man, 
when one of the hunters on the shore shot him through the head and finally 
killed him. When they dragged him on shore, they found that eight balls 
had passed through his body in different directions. 
On another occasion, the same enterprising travellers met with the largest 
bear of this species they had ever seen; wuen they fired he did not attempt 
to attack, but fled with a tremendous roar, and such was his tenacity of 
life, that although five balls had passed through the lungs, and five other 
wounds were inflicted, he swam more than half across the river to a sand. 
bar, and survived more than twenty minutes. 
Mr John Dougherty, a very experienced and respectable hunter, who 
accompanied Major Long’s party daring their expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains, several times very narrowly escaped from the grizzly bear. 
Once while hunting with another person on one of the upper tributaries to 
the Missouri, he heard the report of his companion’s rifle, and when he 
looked round, beheld him at a short distance endeavoring to escape from one 
of these bears, which he had wounded as it was coming towards him. 
Dougherty, forgetful of every thing but the preservation of his friend, hasten- 
ed to call off the attention of the bear, and arrived in rifle-shot distance just 
in time to effect his generous purpose. He discharged his bail at the ant- 
mal, and was obliged in his turn to fly; his friend, relieved from immediate 
danger, prepared for another attack by charging his rifle, with which ha 
