LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
221 
doing business, in which a rascally Tick lays wait 
for, and catches me, is to be put down as a non- 
agreeable variation of insect-hunting. 
But I will now talk of superior game, and give 
some traits of the prowess of a foeman worthy 
of our steel.” One of our neighbours has been 
kept in a state of feverish vexation lately by the 
frequent depredations made in his corn-held by a 
Bear. Bruin is as fond of roas ting-ears as the 
squirrels, or as the planter himself, and as his great 
splay feet trample down much more than he eats, 
the mischief which he does is commensurate. A 
night or two ago one of the negro boys came run- 
ning to the house, stammering and spluttering : — 
0, mas’r, mas’r ! big bear in corn-patch ; I see 
’un get over.” All was bustle in an instant ; bul- 
lets were cast — a job that has always to be done 
at the moment they are wanted — and our friend 
Jenkins and his overseer crept out with their rifles 
to the held, under the guidance lOf Washington, the 
black boy. There was sufficient evidence of the 
truth of the report ; the marks of broad paws were 
deep in the soft earth; the spot where the huge 
monster had climbed the rails was plainly shown, 
while the trodden-down rows of ripening corn gave 
proof of the diligence with which he had laboured 
at his ruinous work. But somehow or other he 
had smelt a rat ; perhaps the lad had involuntarily 
uttered the usual nigger interjection of astonish- 
ment, “ Heigh ! ” or in his hurry to carry tidings, 
had given an alarm ; however, the beast had made 
good a premature retreat, and the planter and his 
servants had only to follow the same course, medi- 
tating schemes of revenge. 
The manner in which they hope to outwit him 
