OUR WINTER ENCAMPMENT--OUR HUTS--HOW WE SPENT OUR TIME--A NIGHT ALARM--
VISIT FROM A GRIZZLY--MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE SAME--SHORT SAVES ME--WE
START IN SEARCH OF MRS. BRUIN--WE ENTER THE FASTNESSES OF THE ROCKY
MOUNTAINS--SHORT'S BATTLE WITH THE BEAR--HIS PERILOUS SITUATION--STILL
IN DANGER--WE GO ROUND TO ASSIST HIM--THE SNOW MOVES THOUGH THE BEAR
DOES NOT, AND WE FIND OURSELVES ON THE TOP OF AN AVALANCHE--A MOST
UNPLEASANT MADE OF LOCOMOTION.
I cannot say that I looked forward with any rest degree of satisfaction
to the idea of spending the remaining months of the winter, without
books or any other means of intellectual enjoyment, in the encampment at
the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The Raggets were very worthy people,
and kind and considerate in every way; but some of our other companions
were somewhat rough and uncouth, and none of them were addicted to
literary pursuits, so that there were not six readable volumes of any
sort or description to be found among all the party. At times I felt
quite a craving for books, when my fingers grew weary mending harness,
or manufacturing snow-shoes or moccasins; when conversation, which was
never very brisk, altogether flagged. Still I had one great resource,
and that was my note-book, though what I was putting into it my
companions were very much puzzled to guess. My friends at home will not
have much difficulty in guessing what I was writing about. Take it all
in all, however, we spent a very pleasant time up among the snow, though
it was brought to a conclusion rather sooner than we expected.
We had plenty of provisions; we had made ourselves tolerably snug; our
numerous well-armed party might set any prowling red-skins at defiance;
and, above all things, we had laid in such a fine stock of good-humour
and good-nature, that we had nothing like a quarrel or an angry dispute
during the whole of the time. We also cut out plenty of employment for
ourselves, and in spite of the cold, were never long shut up in our huts
without making an excursion in one direction or another. Sam Short,
Obed, and I, with the other Raggets, slept in one hut by ourselves. It
was the outer hut of all, and forming part of it was our principal
store, in which the greater portion of our provisions were kept. Here
were piled up casks of flour, and sugar, and salted meats, and fish, and
many other necessary articles. We none of us were much addicted to
lying long in bed; but when we did turn in, we slept sounder than, I am
sure, any tops ever did. We might generally have all snored as loud as
a dozen bears growling away in concert, without in the slightest degree
disturbing each other. One night, however, a piece of salt tongue had
stuck somewhere on its downward passages or Mrs Ragget had given me too
strong a bowl of green tea, as a special mark of her favour, or from
some other unaccountable cause, I could not for some time get to sleep.
I found out that Sam Short did snore, and most lustily and variously
too, with notes resembling what one might fancy a broken-winded bagpipe
with a bad influenza would give forth more than any other sounds. My
other friends were not much behind him in the loudness of their snores,
though rather less varied and musical. At length, in spite of the
delicious concert, I did manage, by dint of counting and repeating my
own name over and over again, and other similar devices, to get into a
sort of dose. Still, though I was asleep, I could hear all the noises
as clearly as before, only I forgot where I was, and a variety of
strange and ever-changing notions came into my head.
I thought that I was at sea, when a violent storm arose, and that a huge
whale got hold of the vessel, and towed her on at a terrific rate,
spouting away and roaring most furiously. Suddenly there was a crash,
and I found that the whale had dragged us against a rock, and ran itself
on shore. There it lay floundering away, till suddenly it gave a
curious kick with its tail, and sprung back again right over our heads
into deep water. I never saw a whale, or indeed any creature for that
matter, give such a leap. I had very serious doubts, however, whether
it was a real whale after all. As it went off skimming over the sea, it
looked back with such a wicked expression in its little twinkling eye,
as much as to say, "There, I've done for you. I hope you may like it;"
at the same time snorting and blowing louder than ever, in a way most
unusual, at all events for whales, which, except when in a flurry, are
generally quiet, well-behaved creatures.
The boiling sea soon knocked the vessel to pieces, and the crash of the
wreck made me start up to swim for my life. There really had been a
crash, though not so loud as I supposed, for it had not awakened the
rest of the sleepers. The noise still continued, as if some one was
breaking into the hut or store, and turning over the articles piled up
in it. I jumped into my clothes, for with the thermometer twenty
degrees below zero, it is not pleasant to run out without some covering,
and calling up my companions, seized my rifle and axe, ever ready at
hand, and rushed out to ascertain what was the matter. I fully believed
that the camp was attacked by red-skins, and that we were about to have
a desperate affray. The door of the store was close to that of our
sleeping hut, but it was closed of course at night. I opened it and
sprang in with my axe, ready to strike, hoping by the suddenness of my
attack to scare the Indians, and prevent them from defending themselves.
The moon was shining with a splendour which she never exhibits through
the denser atmosphere of merrie England, and she was just then casting
her beams through the open doorway. There was a window in the hut which
had been boarded up, but the boards had been torn away, and a glistening
sheet of snow was seen through it. Thus there was enough light in the
shed to render a lantern unnecessary. I started back; for, instead of
the party of red-skins I expected to see, my eyes fell on a huge grizzly
bear, who was busily rolling the casks about, in a vain attempt to get
at their contents.
He was a ferocious-looking monster, gaunt and hairy, and had evidently
been driven out to forage in our camp by the pangs of hunger. When he
saw me he gave forth a fierce growl of defiance, and instead of
decamping, as I expected he would, he made a desperate rush at me. I
stepped back and lifted my axe, intending to make its sharp edge fall
with all my strength on his head; but he was too quick for me, and
seizing my arm, in another instant the savage brute had me fast locked
in his deadly embrace. He would have killed me in an instant, I verily
believe, had I not as he caught me, shoved the head of the axe into his
open mouth, where it served the purpose of a gag, and considerably
incommoded him. It may be supposed that I sung out pretty lustily at
the same time for help. As to doing anything for myself, I found that
was impossible, beyond the holding the axe with all my might in the
bear's mouth. I felt certain that the moment it got out would be my
last.
"Help! help! Obed, Short! Quick, quick!--a huge grizzly bear has got
me," I shouted.
The monster seemed to comprehend the meaning of my cries; for he made
off with me through the aperture by which he had entered, carrying me
along as easily as if I was an infant in arms. As he made off through
the window, my companions, whose responding shouts I had just before
heard, made their appearance at the door. It would have been easy for
them to shoot the bear, but in doing so they would very likely have hit
me, so I begged that they would not make the attempt. They therefore
followed the bear and me with their glittering axes in hand. If my
weight did not prove much of a hindrance to him, my axe at all events
did, and they were not long in overtaking us. A bear's winter coat is
almost as impervious as a suit of armour, and for some time, though they
hacked away at him very lustily, their axes had but little effect. At
length, Short, who had his rifle loaded in his hand, and was ever as
cool as a snow-ball, which, I conceive, is cooler than a cucumber,
managed to get ahead of the bearish marauder, and looking him full in
the face, levelled his weapon.
"Shall I fire, Dick?" he asked. "I know that I can hit him."
"Yes, yes; fire," I grunted out as well as I could; for the brute,
fearing that he was going to lose me, began to give me some unpleasantly
strong hugs. I was afraid also that should my strength fail me he might
get the axe out of his mouth, when he would soon have made mincemeat of
my nose.
"I'll hit his right eye, then," cried Short.
"Fire," I cried.
There was the crack of his rifle, a loud roar, and I found myself well
bespattered with bear's grease, rolling over and over in the snow, but
at length Bruin turned on his back, opened his claws, and to my great
delight I found myself free. On jumping out of bed I had slipped on my
thick buffalo-skin coat, which fastened round the waist with a thong,
and this had much preserved me, or I should have been mangled terribly.
As it was, I could scarcely rise to get clear of the bear; and if my
friends had not come to my assistance I could not have crawled home.
Bruin was dead and fit for smoking. While Obed helped me along, the
rest dragged him to the camp, where we found all the rest of the men
afoot to ascertain what was the matter. I went to bed feeling very much
bruised and knocked about, but by rubbing myself over plentifully with
grease I was next morning tolerably limp and pliable. After breakfast
we cut up the bear, but as may be supposed, he was in very bad
condition, nearly all sinews and bones, though when in good condition he
could not have weighed less than eight hundred pounds. We, however,
managed to get some ham and a few steaks out of him, and a small supply
of fat, while his skin afforded a very acceptable addition to our bed
coverings. Just as the operation was concluded, Short, who had gone
out, came back, saying that, a little snow having fallen in the first
part of the night, he could make out the bear's trail.
"If we follow it up, we may come upon Mrs Bear's lodgings, and find
some young ones at home. Who's for the game?" he exclaimed.
The project suited our tastes, and the young Raggets and I, with two or
three others, declared ourselves ready to set out forthwith. Off we
set, with a little pemmican and bread in our pockets, and our rifles and
long poles in our hands, fully expecting some good sport. Short said
that the she-bears and cubs are supposed to hibernate; but that no doubt
we should be able to poke them out of their holes. We soon left the
plain, when the trail led us up among the rugged defiles of the
mountains. I confess that I could not have distinguished the marks of
the bear's feet in the snow; but Short's more practised eye did so, and
he every now and then pointed them out to me, so that we knew we were on
the right track.
Our undertaking was a very hazardous one. There is not a more
ferocious, at the same time powerful and cunning monster, among all wild
beasts than the grizzly bear. When he meets a man, he has something to
fight for besides the honour of victory; for he eats him for his dinner
or supper as the case may be. As we advanced we found ourselves in a
scene of almost terrific wildness. Dark rocks rising out of the snow
towered above our heads, so as to completely shut us in, while
mountain-ranges appeared one beyond the other, showing us the elevation
we had attained. The old grizzly had certainly chosen a very
inaccessible post for his domicile. The cold was very intense, though
the exercise we were performing kept our blood in circulation. I own
that I felt very much inclined to turn back, for the hug the old bear
had given me had made my bones ache, and I doubted, as the French say,
"whether the game was worth the candle;" in other words, whether it was
worth while running so great a risk as we were doing, and getting so
cold, and enduring so much fatigue, merely for the sake of killing an
old she-bear. However, I said nothing, as I knew that my companions
would not enter into my views of the matter. On we plunged farther and
farther into the wild recesses of the mountains, till Short made some
remarks which led us to suspect that even he began to doubt whether we
should find the bear after all.
"Well, Sam, but where's the trail?" asked Obed, looking round.
"The trail, boy; why, that's just gone and lost itself long ago,"
answered Sam, with a quizzical look on his dried-up countenance.
"If the trail has lost itself, don't let us go and follow its example,"
remarked Elihu Ragget, laughing. "However, I vote we sit down and have
some dinner, while we agree what's next to be done."
His proposal met with universal assent. We accordingly all sat down on
the snow in the most sheltered spot we could find and opened our store
of provisions, but Sam Short very quickly jumped up, and taking his
share in his hand said he would go and explore a little ahead while we
finished our repast. We were none of us sorry to rest; but before we
had quite finished our frugal meal, a loud shout was borne down the glen
to our ears. We had little doubt that it was Sam calling to us. We
seized our rifles, and rushed on.
We had not gone far before we saw him standing in front of a large rock,
and in the rock there was a cavern, and at the mouth of the cavern there
appeared a huge grizzly she-bear rubbing her eyes, Elihu declared, as if
just awoke out of her winter's sleep. I rather think she was licking
her lips at the thoughts of the repast she was going to make of Sam
Short. She would have found him a tough morsel I suspect. Why she did
not at first rush on and try to gobble up our friend I could not tell,
till Elihu observed that she probably had her cubs inside the cave, and
that she was guarding them. Our appearance, however, instead of
daunting her increased her rage, and with a savage roar she began to
waddle towards Short. He retreated slowly. We sang out to him to give
him confidence. He had before not thought it prudent to fire, lest, as
was very likely, his shots should not kill the bear; but when he heard
our voices, he lifted his rifle and fired. I thought that the ball had
gone through her head; but I suppose that it did not, because on she
came at poor Sam faster than ever.
Near the cavern was a precipice, with a glen or gully below it. The
precipice did not go sheer down, but there were several ledges on the
way covered with snow, while the bottom of the glen was filled with
snow, how deep it would have been difficult to ascertain. As we drew
nearer we discovered, to our dismay, that this glen ran up between where
we then stood and the cavern, to get to which Short had made a
considerable circuit, though his keen eye had detected it from the hill
on which we were. How to render him the most effectual assistance was
now the difficulty. While some ran round, Obed and I went to the edge
of the glen to fire across it at the bear. As the bear advanced, Short
sprang back and seized the barrel of his rifle to use it as a club. A
walking-cane would have been of about as much use to him. Still he
wielded it gallantly, and gave the bear an ugly knock on the nose. This
naturally enraged Mrs Bruin, and grasping the fire-arm she pressed on.
Poor Sam! One of three dreadful deaths seemed prepared for him, either
to be torn by the bear or to be dashed to pieces down the precipice,
with the very great chance of being shot by us, his friends, should we
attempt to fire at the bear. He dared not look back to see where he was
going, lest the bear should seize him. He felt his left foot over the
edge of the precipice.
"Fire, fire," he shouted, dropping on his knees almost under the bear.
Mrs Bruin had sense enough to know that the consequence of a fall to
her would be very unpleasant, and she was as unwilling as Sam to fall
into the ravine. She therefore instinctively drew back. That instant
one ball entered her head, and another her shoulder. The former from my
rifle staggered her. It prevented her from seizing Short with her
teeth; but what was our terror to see the snow give way under our
companion's feet, and to all appearance inevitable destruction awaiting
him. He struggled violently to save himself, and just as the greater
part of his body was over he caught hold of one of the hind paws of the
bear, who had fallen on her back, and lay kicking furiously in an
attempt to rise. Sam, however, held on with all his might. It seemed
his only chance of safety. I was afraid lest the bear in her struggles
should slip over also.
Neither Obed nor I had been idle while watching the scene. We both
loaded our rifles, and now stood ready once more to fire. By moving a
little on one side, we saw that we could get a good shot at her without
hitting Short. Not a moment was to be lost. Running on I fired, Obed
followed my example. The bear's struggles grew less violent, and Sam
began to try and haul himself up by her leg. It was a dangerous
proceeding; there being an inclined plane at the edge, his weight
appeared to move the body of the bear on. She could not rise, but she
turned round and dug her sharp claws into the snow to save herself.
Now, instead of wishing her to die, we were anxious that she might
survive till the rest of the party could get up to her. Her growls
became more and more feeble. She could scarcely hold on another minute.
Poor Sam! We trembled for his fate. We shouted to the rest of the
party to hasten on. They had had a difficult place to cross in single
file at the head of the gully. Now they came on, hurrying over the
snow. The bear gave two or three convulsive struggles. I wished that I
could have leaped across the chasm to poor Sam's help. I thought that
the bear was slipping down again. If she had got any way on her, as
sailors say, it was evident that the united strength of the party could
not stop her. They sprang on, and just as I felt sure the bear would
have slipped over the precipice, they seized her by the fore-paws. She
was not dead, however, for in return for the act of kindness she made
some desperate attempts to bite them.
"Haul away, haul away," sang out Sam, and they did haul with all their
might. Though they could not move the bear, they prevented her from
slipping down. She gave several severe kicks with her hind foot. Sam
clung on to it, and by the most violent efforts managed to drag himself
up by her shaggy coat till two of the party caught hold of his collar
and hauled away till they got him up from the edge and placed him in
rather a safer position, but still not one free from danger. For the
first time for some minutes I breathed freely, and as we could do no
more where we were, Obed and I hurried round to help the rest. When we
arrived the bear had received her quietus, but it was astonishing how
many shot and what terrific blows she had received before she was
killed. We were congratulating ourselves on the additional supply of
hams and steaks she would afford us when a crack appeared in the snow
just below our feet, and to our horror we found that the whole mass,
carrying us and the carcase of the bear with it, was slipping off over
the precipice.