Vampires & Werewolves & Others [information]

La bete du Gevaudan [Beast of Gévaudan]

The History

Early June 1764, a woman of Langogne in Gevaudan that was looking after a herd of oxes, was attacked by a fierce Beast. When they saw the appearance of the Beast, the dogs cowered and ran away; the oxes on the contrary, grouped together courageously around their keeper and routed the animal. The woman was not hurt; she came back to Langogne, very moved, her dress and corsage were in rags. Because of the description she made of the monster that had assaulted her, one understood that fear had disturbed her mind. It was only a wolf maybe a rabid wolf, said the sceptics; it was not rare and it was not talked about it anymore.

But a few weeks later, the rumour spreads in the valley of the upper Allier that the Beast has re-appeared. On June 30, in Saint-Etienne-de-Ludgares (Vivarais), it devoured a maiden of 14 years old; on August 8th, it attacks a girl of Puy-Laurent (Gevaudan) and tears her apart; three 15-year-old boys (from Chayla-l’Evêque), a woman from Arzenc, a little girl from Thorts and a shepherd from Chaudeyrac are found dead in open country; their bodies are terribly mutilated and are barely recognizable. In September, a girl from Rocles, a man from Choisniet, a woman from Apcher disappear; their remains and their rags are found scattered in open country and in woods. On October 8th, a young man from Pouget returns home, terrified, half dead: he has met the Beast in an orchard and it slashed his scalp and his chest. Two days later, the forehead of a 13-year-old child is slashed and his scalp ripped off. On October 19th, a 20-year-old maiden is found horribly torn to pieces around Saint-Alban: the Beast hammered at her, “drank her blood”, and ate her guts.

The whole Gevaudan was shaking. Captain Duhamel, "aide-major des dragons de Langogne", voluntarily made himself available to lead a troop of bold peasants to hunt down the mysterious animal. Duhamel had surrounded and killed a big wolf for 18 pounds of prime but the folks were not relieved: this ordinary wolf was not the Beast, as one strived to make it believe, and indeed it was learned that the Beast was messing around and wreaking havoc. 
In October, a peasant from Julianges, called Jean-Pierre Pourcher, was putting into order some bundle in his barn; the dusk was coming, the snow covered the countryside. All of a sudden, a shadow goes through the narrow window of the warehouse. Pourcher is gripped by a “kind of terror”, takes his shotgun, stations himself in front of the stable’s dormer and sees in the street of the village, in front of the waterspout, a monstrous animal such as he had never seen.

“It is the Beast, it is the Beast!”, he said to himself.

Although very courageous, he was shaking so much he could barely hold his weapon. However, after crossing, he shoulders, aims and fires; the Beast falls, gets back on its feet, shakes its head standing still and looks around furiously. Pourcher fires again: the Beast shouts out, bends its legs and escapes making “a noise anything like two persons breaking up after a dispute”. This night, Pourcher was convinced that, unless a miracle, all the inhabitants of Gevaudan were doomed to be eaten.

Such tales spread the terror; the country works were abandoned, streets deserted; people never got out alone and unarmed. Captain Duhamel and his dragons were making daily beats; 1200 peasants, armed with shotguns, scythes, spears, and sticks escorted him; as soon as the Beast was reported, they would hunt it down. Mr de Lafont (property manager in Mende), Mr de Moncan (general commander of the troops in Languedoc), Mr de Morangiès (gentleman) and Mercier, the boldest hunter in Gevaudan took the field; they travelled all around the country from Langogne to Saint-Cléty, from Malzieu to Marjevols. Criers brought out the peasants in all villages; brave men got organized and in snowy country roads, seeked resolutely the monster.

One day, the troop lead by Mr Lafont, marching for 72 hours, stopped all of a sudden near the castle of Baume. The Beast! The Beast is there! It was seen, hidden behind a wall; it lays on its belly and watches a young shepherd who keeps oxes in the distance in a pasture. But the enemy has discovered it and in a jump the Beast reaches the grove nearby. This time, it is caught: peasants dash for it, surround the small wood, others squeeze in between the branches…
The Beast is flushed out and is gaining momentum. A hunter fires at 10 feet; it falls, gets up, receives a second bullet, falls again, gets up and gets hobbling into the woods. One hunts it down, shoots it: here it is again in the plain, falling at each shot, always getting up; finally it is seen coming back in the grove and disappearing…