The object that inspired me with such alarm was an animal--the most
dreaded of all that inhabit the prairies--the _grizzly bear_.
This bear was one of the largest; but it was not his size that impressed
me with fear, so much as the knowledge of his fierce nature. It was not
the first time I had encountered the grizzly bear; and I knew his habits
well.
I was familiar with the form and aspect, and could not be mistaken as to
the species; the long shaggy pelage, the straight front, and broad
facial disk--which distinguishes this species from the _Ursus
Americanus_--the yellowish eyes, the large teeth, but half concealed by
the lips, and, above all, the long curving claws--the most prominent
marks of the grizzly bear, as they are his most formidable means of
attack--were all easily identified.
When my eyes first rested upon the brute, he was just emerging out of
the barranca at the very spot where I had climbed up myself. It was
_his_ tracks, then, I had observed while scaling the cliff!
On reaching the level of the prairie, he advanced a pace or two, and
then halting, reared himself erect, and stood upon his hind-legs; at the
same time he uttered a snorting sound, which resembled the "blowing" of
hogs when suddenly startled in the forest. For some moments he remained
in this upright attitude, rubbing his head with his fore-paws, and
playing his huge arms about after the manner of monkeys. In fact, as he
stood fronting me, he looked not unlike a gigantic ape; and his
yellowish-red colour favoured a resemblance to the great ourang.
When I say that I was terrified by the presence of this unwelcome
intruder, I speak no more than truth. Had I been on horseback, I should
have regarded the creature no more than the snail that crawled upon the
grass. The grizzly bear is too slow to overtake a horse; but I was
afoot, and knew that the animal could outrun me, however swift I might
deem myself.
To suppose that he would not attack me would have been to suppose an
improbability. I did not reckon upon such a chance; I knew too well the
disposition of the enemy that was approaching. I knew that in nine
cases out of ten the grizzly bear is the assailant--that no animal in
America will willingly risk a contest with him; and I am not certain
that the lion of Africa would wear his laurels after an encounter with
this fierce quadruped.
Man himself shuns such an encounter, unless mounted upon the friendly
horse; and even then, where the ground is not clear and open, the
prudent trapper always gives "old Ephraim"--the prairie sobriquet of the
grizzly--a wide berth, and rides on without molesting him. The white
hunter reckons a grizzly bear equal in prowess to two Indians; while the
Indian himself accounts the destruction of one of these animals a great
feat in his life's history. Among Indian braves, a necklace of bear's
claws is a badge of honour--since these adornments can be worn only by
the man who has himself killed the animals from which they have been
taken.
On the other hand, the grizzly bear fears no adversary; he assails the
largest animals on sight. The elk, the moose, the bison, or wild-horse,
if caught, is instantly killed. With a blow of his paw, he can lay open
the flesh, as if it had been gashed with an axe; and he can drag the
body of a full-grown buffalo to any distance. He rushes upon man,
whether mounted or on foot; and a dozen hunters have retreated before
his furious assault. A dozen bullets--ay, nearly twice that number--
have been fired into the body of a grizzly bear without killing him; and
only a shot through the brain or the heart will prove instantaneously
mortal.
Gifted with such tenacity of life and sanguinary fierceness of
disposition, no wonder the grizzly bear is a dreaded creature. Were he
possessed of the fleetness of the lion or tiger, he would be a more
terrible assailant than either; and it is not too much to say that his
haunts would be unapproachable by man. Compared with the horse,
however, he is slow of foot; and there is another circumstance scarcely
less favourable to those who pass through his district--he is not a
tree-climber. Indeed, he does not inhabit the forest; but there is
usually some timber in the neighbourhood of his haunts; and many a life
has been saved by his intended victim having taken refuge in a tree.
I was well acquainted with these points in the natural history of the
grizzly bear; and you may fancy the feelings I experienced at finding
myself in the presence of one of the largest and fiercest upon the naked
plain, alone, dismounted, almost unarmed!
There was not a bush where I could hide myself, not a tree into which I
might climb. There was no means of escape, and almost none of defence;
the knife was the only weapon I had with me; my rifle I had left upon
the other side of the barranca, and to reach it was out of the question.
Even could I have got to the path that led down the cliff, it would
have been madness to attempt crossing there; for although not a
tree-climber, the grizzly bear, by means of his great claws, could have
scaled the cliff more expeditiously than I. Had I made the attempt, I
should have been caught before I could have reached the bottom of the
ravine.
The bear was directly in the path. It would have been literally
flinging myself "into his embrace" to have gone that way.
These reflections occupy minutes of your time to _read_; I _thought_
them in less than moments. A single glance around showed me the utter
helplessness of my situation; I saw there was no alternative but a
desperate conflict--a conflict with the knife!
Despair, that for a moment had unnerved, now had the effect of bracing
me; and, fronting my fierce foe, I stood ready to receive him.
I had heard of hunters having conquered and killed the grizzly bear with
no other weapon than a knife--but; after a terrible and protracted
struggle--after many wounds; and sore loss of blood. I had read in the
book of a naturalist, that "a man might end a struggle with a bear in a
few instants, if one hand be sufficiently at liberty to grasp the throat
of the animal with the thumb and fingers externally, _just at the root
of the tongue_, as flight degree of compression there will generally
suffice to produce a spasm of the glottis, that will soon suffocate the
bear beyond the power of offering resistance or doing injury."
Beautiful theory! Sagacious naturalist! How wouldst thou like to make
the experiment? Hast thou ever heard of birds being caught by the
application of "salt to the tail!" The theory is as correct as thine,
and I am certain the practice of it would not be more difficult!
But I digress among these after-thoughts. I had no time to reflect upon
"compressions of the tongue" or "spasms of the glottis." My antagonist
soon finished his reconnaissance of me, and, dropping upon all-fours and
uttering a loud scream, rushed towards me with open mouth.
I had resolved to await his onset; but as he came nearer, and I beheld
his great gaunt form, his gleaming teeth, and his senna-coloured eyes
flashing like fire, changed my design; a new thought came suddenly into
my mind; I turned and fled.
The thought that prompted me to adopt this course was, that just then I
remembered the antelope I had shot; the bear might be attracted by the
carcass, and pause over it--maybe long enough to give me a start, or
enable me to escape altogether. If not, my situation could be no worse
than it then was.
Alas! my hope was short-lived. On reaching the antelope, the fierce
monster made no halt. I glanced back to see; he was already past it,
and following rapidly upon my heels.
I am a swift runner--one of the swiftest. Many a school-day triumph can
I remember; but what was my speed against such a competitor! I was only
running myself out of breath. I should be less prepared for the
desperate conflict that must, after all, take place; better for me to
turn, and at once face the foe!
I had half resolved--was about to turn, in fact--when an object flashed
before my eyes that dazzled them. Inadvertently I had run in the
direction of the pond; I was now upon its edge. It was the sun gleaming
from the water that had dazzled me--for the surface was calm as a
mirror.
A new idea--a sort of half-hope--rushed into my mind. It was the straw
to the drowning man. The fierce brute was close behind me; another
instant, and we must have grappled.
"Not yet, not yet," thought I. "I shall fight him in the water--in the
deep water: that may give me an advantage. Perhaps, then, the contest
will be more equal; perhaps I may escape by diving."