Wild Beasts and Their Ways by Sir Samuel White Baker (adult books to read txt) 📕

my inquiring respecting the fatal quarrel across the table, he informed me that he had held an inquest, and buried the man that morning.

The deceased was a notorious character, and he would assuredly have shot his younger antagonist, had he not been the quicker of the two in drawing his pistol.

This was a satisfactory termination to a dispute concerning cards, and there was a total absence of any false sentiment upon the part of the commonsense authority.

We were most hospitably entertained by Major and Mrs. Powell, to whose kind care we were committed by Colonel Gentry, who, being a bachelor, had no accommodation for ladies. It was very delightful, in the centre of a prairie wilderness, to meet with ladies, and to hear the rich contralto voice of Miss Powell, their daughter of eighteen, who promised to be a singer much above the average.

On the following morning we started for Powder River, 92 miles from Fort Fetterman; there was no public conveyance, as Powder River station had been abandoned since the Indians had been driven back, and confined to their reservation lands. We were bound by invitation to the cattle ranche of Mr. R. Frewen and his brother Mr. Moreton Frewen; these gentlemen had an establishment at Powder River, although their house was 22 miles distant upon the other side, in the centre of their ranche. They had very kindly sent a four-wheeled open carriage for us; one of those conveyances that are generally known as American waggons, with enormously high wheels of cobweb-like transparency. Jem Bourne had been sent as our conductor, having been engaged as my head man.

There was nothing but prairie throughout this uninteresting journey, enlivened now and then by a few antelopes.

Castle Frewen, as the superior log building was facetiously called by the Americans, was 212 miles from Rock Creek station, and we were well pleased upon arrival to accept their thoroughly appreciated hospitality. Their house had an upper floor, and a staircase rising from a hall, the walls of which were boarded, but were ornamented with heads and horns of a variety of wild animals; these were in excellent harmony with the style of the surroundings. Here we had the additional advantage of a kind and most charming hostess in Mrs. Moreton Frewen, in whose society it seemed impossible to believe that we were so remote from what the world calls civilisation. There was a private telephone, 22 miles in length, to the station at Powder River, and the springing of the alarm every quarter of an hour throughout the day was a sufficient proof of the attention necessary to conduct the affairs successfully at that distance from the place of business.

Our kind friends afforded us every possible assistance for the arrangements that were necessary, and we regarded with admiration the energy and perseverance they exhibited in working with their own hands, and in KNOWING HOW TO USE THEIR OWN HANDS, in the absence of such assistance as would be considered necessary in civilised countries.

There were about 8000 head of cattle upon the Frewens' ranche, all of which were in excellent condition. It was beyond my province to enter upon the question of successful ranching, but the Americans confided to me that the prairie grass, instead of benefiting by the pasturing of cattle, became exhausted, and that weeds usurped the place of the grass, which disappeared; therefore it would follow that a given area, that would support 10,000 head of cattle at the present time, would in a few years only support half that number. It might therefore be inferred that the process of deterioration would ultimately result in the loss of pasturage, and the necessary diminution in the herds.

From the Frewens' ranche, a ride of 25 miles along the course of the Powder river brought us to the last verge of civilisation; the utmost limit of the cattle ranches was owned by very nice young people, Mr. and Mrs. Peters, Americans, and Mr. Alston, an English partner.

We had been hospitably received by these charming young settlers, whose rough log-house was in the last stage of completion, and I fear we must have caused them great personal inconvenience.

On the following morning we started for the wilds of the Big Horn, and crossing the Powder river, we at once commenced the steep ascent, for a steady pull of 4000 feet above the dell in which the house was situated. We left them, with the promise to pay them a few days' visit on our return.

It was then that we quickly discovered the peculiarities of our four attendants, whom I had expected to be examples of stern hardihood, that would represent the fabled reputation of the backwoodsman.

Although they were fine fellows in a certain way, they astonished me by their luxurious habits. In a country that abounded with game, I should have expected to exist upon the produce of the rifle, as I had done so frequently during many years' experience of rough life. A barrel of biscuits, a few pounds of bacon, and a good supply of coffee would have been sufficient for a crowned head who was fond of shooting, especially in a country where every kind of animal was fat. My men did not view this picture of happiness in the same light; they required coffee, sugar, an immense supply of bacon, an oven for baking bread, flour, baking-powder, preserved apples (dried), ditto peaches, ditto blackberries, together with the necessaries of pepper, salt, etc.

It was always my custom to drink a pint of cafe au lait and to eat some toast and butter at about 6 A.M. before starting for our day's work; after this I never thought of food throughout the day, until my return in the evening, which was generally at five or six o'clock.

My people were never ready in the morning, but were invariably squatted in front of the frying-pan, frizzling bacon, when I was prepared to start. Jem Bourne was a chronic grumbler because we hunted far away from camp, instead of returning at mid-day to luncheon. Excellent fresh bread was baked daily, and I insisted upon the people supplying themselves with sufficient food packed upon their saddles, if they were not hardy enough for a day's work after a good breakfast.

I observed that my friends Big Bill and Bob Stewart were also provided with a large supply of bacon, although they left the fattest animals rotting in the forest, simply because they hunted for the hides.

In the same manner I remarked the extreme fastidiousness of these otherwise hardy people in rejecting food which we should have considered delicious. I have seen them repeatedly throw away the sage-hens that I have shot; these were birds which we prized. On one occasion, as we were travelling when moving camp, I shot a jackass rabbit from the saddle, with my .577 rifle. It gave me considerable trouble to dismount and open this animal, which would have gained a prize for fat; having cleaned it most carefully, I stuffed the inside with grass, and attached it to the saddle. We never had an opportunity of eating this splendid specimen; on inquiring, the cook had thrown it away, "because at this season jackass rabbits fed upon sage shoots, and the flesh tasted of sage!

As we shall return to the Big Horn range when treating upon the habits of wapiti and other animals, I shall now refer to the Indian bears, and commence with the most spiteful of the species, Ursus labiatus.


CHAPTER XI

THE BEAR (continued)

The outline that I have already given of Ursus labiatus is sufficient to condemn its character; there are more accidents to natives of India and Ceylon from the attacks of this species than from any other animal; at the same time it is not carnivorous, therefore no excuse can be brought forward in extenuation. I have already observed that this variety of the bear family does not hybernate; it has a peculiar knack of concealment, as it is seldom met during the daytime, although perhaps very numerous in a certain locality. In places abounding with rocky hills, deep ravines, and thick bush, it may be readily imagined that bears obtain the requisite shelter without difficulty; but I have frequently visited their haunts, where no perceptible means of secreting themselves existed, nevertheless each night afforded fresh evidences of their industry in digging pits, when searching for white ants, within 150 yards of our camp. In these places we seldom found a bear, although driving the jungles daily with nearly two hundred beaters. This experience would denote that the bears travel long distances at night, to visit some favourite resort which produces the necessary food. The stomachs of all wild animals when shot should be immediately examined, as the contents will be a guide to the locality which they inhabit. I have killed elephants in Africa at least 50 miles distant from any cultivation, but their stomachs were filled with dhurra (Sorghum vulgare), thus proving that they had wandered great distances in search of a much-loved food that could not be obtained in their native forests. In the same manner all wild animals will travel extraordinary distances to obtain either water or food in countries where they are liable to be pursued. When the watchers who protect the crops are in sufficient force to drive the nocturnal intruders away with guns, the same animals will probably not reappear upon the following night, but they will visit some well-known spot in an opposite direction, and reappear forty-eight hours later upon the forbidden ground.

The elephants in that portion of Abyssinia which is traversed by the various affluents of the Nile, being much harassed by the sword-hunters of the Hamran Arabs, never drink in the same locality upon two nights consecutively; they drink in the Settite river perhaps on Monday, march 30 miles in retreat, and on the following night they will have wandered another 30 miles to the river Gash, in a totally opposite direction. They will then possibly return to the Settite, and after drinking, they will take a new departure, and march to the river Royan or to the Bahr Salaam.

A bear is a rapid traveller, and although sluggish in appearance when confined, it is extremely active; therefore outward signs of digging, although evidence of nocturnal visits, cannot be accepted as proofs of the bear's proximity.

I believe that leopards may be frequently crouching among the branches of trees, and remain unseen, while a person, unconscious of their presence, may pass beneath; but although the sloth bear is most active in ascending a tree, it would be difficult for it to remain unobserved, owing to its superior size and remarkable black colour. A very large old tree with a considerable cavernlike hole at the bottom should always be carefully examined, as bears are particularly fond of these impromptu dwellings. I knew a man who was thus surprised whilst cutting wood from a large tree, unconscious of the fact that a bear was concealed within the hollow trunk. The blows of the axe disturbed the occupant, which immediately bolted from the hollow, and seized the wood-cutter by the thigh. Fortunately the man had his axe, with which he at once belaboured the bear upon the head until it relinquished its hold. I saw the scars of the wound inflicted by the canine teeth; these were about 6 inches in length, extending from inside the thigh to the knee-joint. The man declared that if his axe had been heavier he could have killed the bear, but it happened to be exceedingly light, and had very little effect.

My shikari Kerim Bux, who was a very powerful man, had a serious encounter with a bear, which seized