Robert Merry's Museum, Vol. VIII, July to December, 1844Various
General
Robert Merry's Museum, Vol. VIII, July to December, 1844
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals
We one day saw a hunter noose a wild bull at a short distance from
us. When the lasso was thrown, the animal was at full speed, and the
hunter in chase, at the distance of about twenty feet. The noose was
immediately drawn tight around the neck of the flying beast. Wild
with fright and pain, the creature rushed forward, bellowing with all
his lungs. The huntsman held on to the rope; the horse, seeming to
understand the game, kept in a position to strain it to the utmost, and
at the same time to embarrass the progress of the maddened fugitive. At
this the creature approached the road, his mouth foaming, his tongue,
swollen and black, hanging from his mouth, and his eyeballs seeming
ready to gush from their sockets. Attempting to leap across a chasm, he
faltered, and fell with a heavy groan into the middle of the path. The
hunter sprung from his horse, and plunged a knife deep into his neck.
The bull struggled, rose to his feet and plunged furiously forward. But
he soon staggered, and reeling round and round, fell dead to the earth.
The Bear and Panther.
It was on as beautiful an autumnal day as ever ushered in the Indian
summer, that I made an excursion after game among a group of mountains,
or rather on a link in the great chain of the Alleghany range, which
runs in a northeastern direction in that part of Pennsylvania which
bounds the New York line.
I had kept the summit of the mountains for several miles, without
success, for a breeze had arisen shortly after sunrise which rattled
through the trees, and made it unfavorable for hunting on dry ground;
and indeed the only wild animal I saw was a bear, that was feeding on
another ridge across a deep valley, and entirely out of reach of my
rifle shot. I therefore descended the mountain in an oblique direction,
towards the salt springs, which I soon reached, and after finding
others had preceded me here, I left the spot for another mountain on
which I intended to pass the remainder of the day, gradually working
my way home. This mountain was covered with chestnut trees, and here
it was that I caught a glimpse of the bear from the other ridge, and
found he had disappeared but a short time previous to my arrival on
this mountain. I followed his track for three miles, for chestnuts lay
in abundance on the ground, and bears, like hogs, root up the leaves in
search of food beneath, and it no doubt had lingered about here eating
its meal until my near approach gave warning of its danger. This I
could discover, as the leaves having been wet by the melted frost on
the top, a path could be traced where the bear in running had turned
the dried part of the leaves uppermost. I quickened my pace along the
mountain side and around the turn of the mountain, with the hopes of
surprising the bear, and after a rapid chase for the distance above
mentioned, all proved fruitless, and I relinquished further pursuit.
Warm with this exercise, and somewhat fatigued, I descended the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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