SMOKING A GRIZZLY.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 495, 11 January 1851, Page 4

SMOKING A GRIZZLY.

BY SOLITAIRh.

" What, joii hey never seen a live Gtizz'y!" exclaimed an old Oiegon gold digger, with whom we were engaged in a übar" conversation one evening on Jamestown bar. "N*ver," snid I, in all seriousness, " it has never been my good fortune to encounter one of Ihe beautiful Tarmints." " WpII, hoss, when you do jjerhnps it won't be the most pleasantest minnit you've ever lied, for ihar aint no varmint in these lulls, nor any whar else I've ben, that ken kick wu«s, either round or sideways, than a full grown grizzly." " lint you can easily gft out if (he w*y of a cluua«y animal like that," said I, provoking the old digger in(o a yarn of his experience in regard to Grizzleys. " Well, when you Kin git oul of thin way, little fellar, I gives you my advice to git out qu cker, fur tho' th»'y -»i.it built raal beautiful for runnin', they lops awful < iis irt when thur arter a huraui' critter. I was despeiitte glad to get away from one myself once." 1 had provoked him to the ed^c of a bar story, and knowing from his manner, that his relation of such an occurrence as gettini,' away from a grizzly would be interesting, I tempced him on. <c Where did you say you fell in with him ?" enquired I. '' I did'nt say I fell in with him anywhar," answered he; "cuss the varmiur, be fell in with me, and I'd a leetle ruther hey fell in with the — jest at that minnit. I was over thar two miles tother side of the high ridge beyond Sullivan's looUin' arter that gray mule of mme —and talking about wicked thingi, jest puts me thiakin' what a detarminedly vicious sarpint that gray mule wab f —Well, I was huntm' her, and arter lammin' over the hills, and shootin' down half a dozen gulches, I began to get out ot wind; and set down to bless that giay critter for the many tramps she had gin roe —l'll swar no lariat 'ud hold her, not ef it was made of bull hide an inch thick, I hadn't sot more'n a minit, when I heeid a inort, and a roar and a growl, and a light smart sprinkhn'of fait travel* Jin 1 all mixed up together. Lookin' up a parpendickelar hill, right behind me, thar I saw comin', my gray mule, putt in' in her best licks, and a few yards behind lier was a grizzly, nol much bigger than a ' yearling! " Many an mfarnal scrape that mule had takm' me into atore, but this was rather the tightest phce she tver did git me into. I had'nt a weepun about me, 'cept ot.e of these mean, one-barreled auction pistols ; and that hadn't a consarned mite of a load in, and I hadn't nuthin' to load it with, and no time to put it in, ef I had : and if it had been loaded, it wouldn't hey ben wurth a cuss. " You had better believe, boys, that my skin got moist suddmt—thur warnn't no dry digging under my red shirt, long afore that grizzly got down the hill. The mfarnal mule so sooner seed me then he jest wheeled round and put me atween him and the ' b,ir,' and stood off to see ef I wouldn't lick him about as easy as I used to whale her when she got stubborn. Old grizzly drawed up, when he seed me, and 'gin to roll his old ban el heaJ about and gtunt, as ef I was inore'n he bargin'd for; and I'd jest given him that mule easy, to hey got otF squar —As the fellars say at roonte, he was a "lay oui" I didn't want to bet on. I commenced back'm' out, and wanted to make it u draw game; but he kept shufflm' up to me, and any fellar who had ben close to his head, would hey gin his hole pile jest to get a chance to cut. I consider! dmy effects —that pan, rocker and crow-bar —jest as good as 'ministered upon ; and almost felt the coroner aiitin 1 on my body. I t>tuck my hands into my pockets, to see if tliur warn't a knife about me, and I pulled out half a dozen boxes of ludjer matches that I had jest bought that arternoon. I don't knuw what put it in my head, but sot a box bla^in', aud held it out towards old grizzly, and I reckin you huven't often seen two eyes stick out wusser than his tiid then. He drawed back at least ten yards, and settin' the box down on the mrlh, I jest moved off about twenty yards in tother direction. The bar crept up to the lucifers and took a inocll, and ef ihe muscles of my jaws hadn't been so tight v\uh fear, I'd hey busted into a reg'Lr snort of laughin', at seeiu' how he turned up hit nose and sniffled. The next rninnir he retreated at least fi'ty yards ; and then I sot off another box of the locilerb, and —boys dar you b'lieve it —he gin to back out ' As soon as 1 felt I had him skeeit, I didn't care a cuss for a whole drove of gnzzlys. I jerked out another box of lucifers, tetched it off, mid let out the most onarthly yell that ever woke them diggins, and the way that bur broke into a cantur 'ud hey distanced any nag in Cbiistendom, he jest seemed to llunk that anythin' tbat could fire up as easy, and smell as bad as me, war rather a delicate subject to kick up a row with, As he was gettm' over »he hill, I fairly tquralcd out laughin', and I'll bwar ef that impedent mule —which was stantlin' behind me —didn't snicker out too. I looked for a rock to hit her —instead of ketchin' her to ride to camp —and the ungrateful critter sot right ofi" in a trot and left me to \v: ilk. I made sh-.rt time atween that ravine and n.y tent ; for I was awful feer'd that my grizzly was waitin' some place to take a second look at me, and might bring a lew older varmmti along to get thur opinion of whut kind of critter I wur. '•'Ah, boys," sau' he, in conclusion, "Providence lias helped m - out of mnrry a icrapc ; but it want him saved me from the grizzly—ef it hadn't ben tbat the devil, or Rim? Dutchman, invented brimstone »<nd luoifer nii'Jiis, thar would hey ben an end to this ctitter, and tln> mdict would hey ben — " Did of a Grizzly."

Advice on Paiu^mkntary Oratory. -— You laughed at my letter on O'.ilo.y, and my analysis, for your Biudy and improvement, oi the styles of brougham and O'Connell. You admit that both are men of colossal dimensions as orators; but you add, that if you imitated one or tlie other, ym would be written down the mos» grotesque and fanMsl''*. animal alive. True, my friend, most tiue. I wish yon however, to remember, that greatness is only achieved by the adoption of great examples, The natural ease of Brougham, and his bursts of whimsical satire, may not be attained by ordinary men; but if you cannot conveniently contemplate great speakers, do not, 1 conjure you, imiiate small onea. In your, the lower house, where is your bright example in oratory st this moment ? Lord John Rus&ell, sensible, and I believe, honest mm) aa he is, cannot be styled a model in oratory. Sir George Grey is probably ihe best speaker among the Whig chiefs in the House of Commons; but he speaks too fait; and though clear and elegant, he wants vigour, I think, and force. My favourite, Paimerston, admit able as he it in bit matter, occasionally hilts; and impediment! in oratory are very tormenting both to the Bpeaker and the audience. Roebuck and D'lsraeli in their several ptylrß, are the best speakers now in the House of Commons. They have a genius for sneaking, never want words, and feel themselves and make their hearertfee), most keenly what they utter. Su>el is vigorous, Irish, figurative, and often happy ; but he is a model for nobody, and must be permitted to shriek in hii own wild and peculiar manner without disciple and without j

follower; Peel is clever, but cold; quick, and inge. nious in debate ; but there is no flame of the hrart, in my opinion, in the whole course of his frequently long speeches He suits a level, business-like age, bii' his style is totally unequal to great thoughts and startling events. I cannot therefore I tear, decide that you have before you a per'eet example nightly in the lower house. Lord Lyndhurst, a few years ago, with his clear vivid statement, fine voice and lucid reasoning, would have furnished music for your ear in the House of Lords ; but bis day is over, his star has w.'ned. Lord Stanley's fine } atrician tone?, and bp.irkling lively st>le, are, to me, as portions of his oratory, very attracive. If you dire not imitate Brougham, study then sune of the l»e*t parts of Stanley; aid to thes" some of the strong sense and gravity in argument of Lord Grey, aud some of the flowing periods ot Lord Carlisle, without of course his ponderous measured intonation, aud you may find a recipe that mny giatify your taste. Be bold, industrious, and well acquainted with youi question. Do not write too much of your speeches. Dash naturally into the debate, and gallop the p uin with your sabre in hand and plume flying, and we khall soon have you described as one ot the " fdVo. iit«- perfoimt-rs" in the lower House of Puiliametit.— A Career m (he Commons.