SCIPIO AND THE BEAR. 481 



wards the detached field in which the Bears were at work. The owner 

 told us that for some days several of these animals had visited his corn, 

 and that a Negro who was sent every afternoon to see at what part of the 

 enclosure they entered, had assured him there were at least five in the field 

 that night. A plan of attack was formed : the bars at the usual gap of 

 the fence were to be put down without noise ; the men and dogs were to 

 divide, and afterwards proceed so as to surround the Bears, when, at the 

 sounding of our horns, every one was to charge towards the centre of the 

 field, and shout as loudly as possible, which it was judged would so inti- 

 midate the animals, as to induce them to seek refuge upon the dead trees 

 with which the field was still partially covered. 



The plan succeeded. The horns sounded, the horses galloped for- 

 ward, the men shouted, the dogs barked and howled. The shrieks of 

 the Negroes were enough to frighten a legion of Bears, and those in the 

 field took to flight, so that by the time we reached the centre they were 

 heard hun-ying towards the tops of the trees. Fires were immediately 

 lighted by the Negroes. The drizzling rain had ceased, the sky cleared, 

 and the glare of the crackling fires proved of great assistance to us. The 

 Bears had been so terrified, that we now saw several of them crouched 

 at the junction of the larger boughs with the trunks. Two were imme- 

 diately shot down. They were cubs of no great size, and being already 

 half dead, we left them to the dogs, which quickly dispatched them. 



We were anxious to procure as much sport as possible, and having 

 observed one of the Bears, which from its size we conjectured to be the 

 mother, ordered the Negroes to cut down the tree on which it was perched, 

 when it was intended the dogs should have a tug with it, while we should 

 support them, and assist in preventing the bear from escaping by wound- 

 ing it in one of the hind legs. The surrounding woods now echoed to 

 the blows of the axemen. The tree was large and tough, having been 

 girded more than two years, and the operation of felling it seemed ex- 

 tremely tedious. However, it began to vibrate at each stroke ; a few 

 inches alone now supported it ; and in a short time it came crashing to 

 the ground, in so awful a manner that Bruin must doubtless have felt 

 the shock as severe as we should feel a shake of the globe produced by 

 the sudden collision of a comet. 



The dogs rushed to the charge, and harassed the Bear on all sides. 

 We had remounted, and now surrounded the poor animal. As its life 

 depended upon its courage and strength, it exercised both in the most 



Hh 



