Occasionally,
attempts were made to break through the circle, but the flight of
arrows, aimed directly at their faces, invariably drove the
creatures back. Fire-arms were not resorted to at all in this hunt,
spears and arrows being the weapons depended on. Several ludicrous
incidents occurred, but none that were tragical. One or two of the
more reckless of the hunters, ambitious of shining before the
representatives of so many tribes, ran rather greater risks than
were required, but they escaped with a few smart scratches. In one
instance, however, a young Indian had a still narrower SQUEEZE for
his life. Literally a SQUEEZE it was, for, suffering himself to get
within the grasp of a bear, he came near being pressed to death, ere
his companions could dispatch the creature. As for the prisoner, the
only means he had to prevent his being bitten, was to thrust the
head of his spear into the bear's mouth, where he succeeded in
holding it, spite of the animal's efforts to squeeze him into
submission. By the time this combat was terminated, the field was
strewn with the slain; every one of the bears having been killed by
hunters so much practised in the art of destroying game.
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