and frequently two. The two largest bears he himself killed weighed,
respectively, 408 and 410 pounds. They were both shot in Mississippi.
But he saw at least one bear killed which was much larger than either of
these. These figures were taken down at the time, when the animals were
actually weighed on the scales. Most of his hunting for bear was done
in northern Mississippi, where one of his plantations was situated, near
Greenville. During the half century that he hunted, on and off, in
this neighborhood, he knew of two instances where hunters were
fatally wounded in the chase of the black bear. Both of the men were
inexperienced, one being a raftsman who came down the river, and the
other a man from Vicksburg. He was not able to learn the particulars
in the last case, but the raftsman came too close to a bear that was at
bay, and it broke through the dogs, rushed at and overthrew him, then
lying on him, it bit him deeply in the thigh, through the femoral
artery, so that he speedily bled to death.

But a black bear is not usually a formidable opponent, and though he
will sometimes charge home he is much more apt to bluster and bully than
actually to come to close quarters. I myself have but once seen a man
who had been hurt by one of these bears. This was an Indian. He had come
on the beast close up in a thick wood, and had mortally wounded it with
his gun; it had then closed with him, knocking the gun out of his hand,
so that he was forced to use his knife. It charged him on all fours, but
in the grapple, when it had failed to throw him down, it raised itself
on its hind legs, clasping him across the shoulders with its fore-paws.
Apparently it had no intention of hugging, but merely sought to draw him
within reach of his jaws. He fought desperately against this, using the
knife freely, and striving to keep its head back; and the flow of blood
weakened the animal, so that it finally fell exhausted, before being
able dangerously to injure him. But it had bitten his left arm very