is one terrible exception to this rule; one habit offering from surprise and the torpidity of the seahuge arins, and bear it away as a prize. There the animal may be certainly calculated on, but a daring heart only can take advantage of it. The grizzly bear, like the tiger and lion, have their caves in which they live; but they use them principally as a safe lodging-place when the cold of winter renders them torpid and disposed to sleep. To these caves they retire late in the fall, and they seldom venture out until the warmth of spring. Sometimes two occupy one cave, but this is not often the case, as the unsociability of the animal is proverbial, they prefering to be solitary and alone. A knowledge of the forests, and an occasional trailing for bear inform the hunter of these caves, and the only habit of the grizzly bear that can with certainty be taken advantage of, is that of his being in his cave alive, if at a proper season. And the hunter has the terrible liberty of entering his cave single-handed, and there destroying him. Of this only method of hunting the grizzly bear we would attempt a description. The thought of entering a cave, inhabited by one of the most powerful beasts of prey, is calculated to try the strength of the best nerves; and when it is considered that the least trepidation, the slightest mistake, may cause, and probably will result in the instant death of the hunter, it certainly exhibits the highest demonstration of physical courage to pursue such a method of hunting, Yet there are many persons in the forests of North America who engage in such perilous adventures with no other object in view than the "sport" or hearty meal. The hunter's preparations to "beard the lion in his den," commence with examining the mouth of the cave he is about to enter. Upon the signs there exhibited he decides whether the bear is alone; for if there are two, the cave is never entered. The size of the bear is also thus known, and the time since he was last in search of food. The way this knowledge is obtained, from indications so slight, or unseen to an ordinary eye, is one of the greatest mysteries of the woods. Placing ourselves at the mouth of the cave containing a grizzly bear, to our untutored senses there would be nothing to distinguish it from one that was empty; but if some Diana of the forest would touch our eyes, and give us the instinct of sight possessed by the hunter, we would argue thus: " From all the marks about the mouth of the cave, the occupant has not been out for a great length of time, for the grass and the earth have not been lately disturbed. The bear is in the cave, for the last tracks made are with the toe marks towards the cave. There is but one bear, because the tracks are regular and of the same size. He is a large bear; the length of the step and the size of the paw indicate this; and he is a fat one, because his hind feet do not step in the impressions made by the fore ones, as is always the case with a iean bear." Such are the signs and arguments that present themselves to the hunter; and mysterious as they seem, when not understood, when explained they strike the imagination at once as being founded on the unerring simplicity and the certainty of nature. It may be asked, how is it that the grizzly bear is so formidable to numbers, when met in the forest, and when in a cave can be assailed successfully by a single man? In answer to this, we must recollect that the bear is only attacked in his cave when he is in total darkness, and suf son. These three things are in this method of hunting taken advantage of; and but for these advantages, no quickness of eye, no steadiness of nerve or forest experience, would protect for an instant the intruder to the cave of the grizzly bear. The hunter, having satisfied himself about the cave, prepares a candle, which he makes out of the wax taken from the comb of wild bees, softened by the grease of the bear. This candle has a large wick, and emits a brilliant flame. Nothing else is needed but the rifle. The knife and the belt are useless; for if a struggle should ensue that would make it available, the foe is too powerful to mind its thrusts before the hand using it would be dead. Bearing the candle before him, with the rifle in a convenient position, the hunter fearlessly enters the cave. He is soon surrounded by darkness, and is totally unconscious where his enemy will reveal himself. Having fixed the candle in the ground in firm position, with an apparatus provided, he lights it, and its brilliant flame soon penetrates into the recesses of the cavern-its size of course rendering the illumination more or less complete. The hunter now places himself on his belly, having the candle between the back part of the cave where the bear is, and himself; in this position, with the muzzle of the rifle protruding out in front of him, he patiently waits for his victim. A short time only elapses before Bruin is aroused by the light. The noise made by his starting from sleep attracts the hunter, and he soon distinguishes the black mass, moving, stretching, and yawning like a person awaked from a deep sleep. The hunter moves not, but prepares his rifle; the bear, finally roused, turns his head towards the candle, and, with slow and wading steps, approaches it. Now is the time that tries the nerves of the hunter. Too late to retreat, his life hangs upon his certain aim and the goodness of his powder. The slightest variation in the bullet, or a flashing pan, and he is a doomed man. So tenacious of life is the common black bear, that it is frequently wounded in its most vital parts, and will still escape or give terrible battle. But the grizzly bear seems to possess an infinitely greater tenacity of life. His skin, covered by matted hair, and the huge bones of his body, protect the heart, as if incased in a wall; while the brain is buried in a skull, compared to which adamant is not harder. A bullet, striking the bear's forehead, would flatten, if it struck squarely on the solid bone, as if fired against a rock; and dangerous indeed would it be to take the chance of reaching the animal's heart. With these fearful odds against the hunter, the bear approaches the candie, growing every moment more sensible of some uncommon intrusion. He reaches the blaze, and either raises his paw to strike it, or lifts his nose to scent it, either of which will extinguish it, and leave the hunter and the bear in total darkness. This dreadful moment is taken advantage of. The loud report of the rifle fills the cave with stunning noise, and as the light disappears, the ball, if successfully fired, penetrates the eye the huge animal-the only place where it would find a passage to the brain; and this not only gives the wound, but instantly paralyzes, that no temporary resistance may be made. On such chances the American hunter perils his life, and often thoughtlessly courts the danger. of Abernethy, 8. Aborigines, the 137, 153. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. A game of Chess with Napoleon, 200 Air tight preservers, 191. A Lady's age, 204. A Legal Examination, 240. Alcohol in Wines, 240. Annals of the War of 1812, 225. 44 stove dealings, 99. Health, 198. Observatory, 254. 46 44 Coleman's Eolian Attachment, 18. 66 Collecting a bill, 199. Commerce with the east, 122. Cowpens, battle of, 148. Jones, Paul. 111. Jones, journal of Rev. David, 244,232, Kellogg, Miner K., 242. Last tree, the, Legal examination, a, 240. Macauley, T. B., 36. Marriage Licenee, 29, 43, 51, 174. 24, 28, 84, 96, 112, 120, 128, 136, 152, Derivations and Etymology, 35, 45, Martin, Jonah, 12, 35. 63, 117. Dioramas, 50, 72. Documents of the last war, 7. Dyeing operations, 90. Early Annals, 124, 136. History of Hamilton Co. 241. Fire Engines, 23, 108, 222. 66 Mill in Hamilton Co. 246. Flower Garden, the, 141, 197. Fulton Bagging Factory, 74.92. Gen. Assembly Pres. Church, 238. Rail Road, Baltimore and Ohio, 250. Recollections of a voyage to Italy, 25, Relics of the Past, 18, 30, 123, 150, 174, Revolutionary Anecdote, Incidents, 143' 208. Sagacity of the Horse, 248. Seven Asiatic churches, 135. Habits of Sheep, 32 Harmar's Campaign, 105 Horace Day and the Tunis Bey, 174 Hudson, John, 280, 292, 300, 316 66 Nature, 40, 80 Humor, 341 Hunter, Iron S. B. 311 Literature, Western, 348 Main chance, the, 338 Managing a Husband, 199 March of Science, 336 Marriages and Deaths, 40, 44, 56, 64, Life, 336 Mayor of New York, 59 66 Valley Settlement, 147 Modern poetry, 157 6. Relics, 257 Moustache, the, 227 Legal Ingenuity, 318 66 of the War of 1812, 187 66 Legislative Wit, 311, 344 Statistics, 353 Letter Balances, 159 Epitaph for Thos. Hood, 212 Mary, 109 New Zealand Melody, 24 46 Our Faith, 248 Passing strange, 215 Recipes, 136, 298 Red brethren, 2:6 Remarkable Incidents, 198 Retort, 296 Reverence for the Sex, 212 Responsibilities. 235 Revolutionary Patriotism, 49 Review, 101, 206, 240, 263, 264, 272, 302, 303, 332 Riches, 153 Rising glories, 211 Rivalry, 326 Rise of eminent men, 80 Relic of the Revolution, 242 Reformers, 262 Relic, anti-revolutionary, 170 Romantic, 226 Science of Sound, 59 Scott. Sir Walter, 160 Scraps, 40, 64, 208, 215, 295, 296, 299, 320, 327, 344, 353, 360 Scripture Quotations, 256 Shoal water, 192 Shakspeare and the Bible, 311 Shoulder Arms, 32 Shut the door, 228 Sleepy worshippers, 234 Small Pox, 32 Smart Boy, 328 Steamboat Travelling, 222 St. Clair's Defeat, 30 S. B. building in the West, 1845, 304 Stultz, the tailor, 166 Star-spangled Banner, S. B. 71 Street Loungers, 123 |