The Red Cloud chief., 1885-06-26

on these mountains 3 evidently Oeco
little disturbed Indeed. the Indians
and most of the white hunters are
rather chary Of meddling with 'sDld
Ephraim," as the mountain men style
the grizzly, unless they got him At .
disadvantage; for the sport is fraught
with some danger and but small profit
The bears thus seemed 81 have very
little fear Of harm. and We thought it
far from unlikely that the bed Of the
one who had fed on the elk would not
be far away.
My companion was n skillful tracker.
and we took up the trail at nce For
some distance it led over the soft, yield
ing carpet of moss and ~pine-needle..
and the footprints were quite easily
made ont, although We could follow
them but slowly: for we had. of course.
to keep q sharp lookout ahead and
| around US as We walked nOisel ssly on
in the somber half. light always prevail
ing under tn great pine trees. through
whose th;ckly interlacing branches stray
but few beams of light, To matter how
bright the ,un may be Oh side. We
made no sound ourselves. and every
little sudden noise sent a thrill through
me as l peered about with each sense
ravens which we had scared from the
carcass flew overhead. croaking hoarse-
~: and the pine tops mOaned and
sighed in the light breeze-for pine
trees seem to be ever in motion, 10
matter how light the wind.
After going a few hundred yards the
tracks turned off on a well beaten path
made by the elk; the woods were in
many places cut up by these game
trails. which had often become As dis
tinct as ordinary fOOt-pathS. The
beasts footprints were perfectly plain
in the dust. and he had Numbered along
up the path until near the middle Of TIE
hillside. where the ground broke away
and there were hOllOws and towlders.
Here there had been a windfall. and the
dead trees lay among the living. piled
across one another in all directions;
while between and around them
sprOuted up 4 thick growth of young
spruce and other evergrecns. The trail
turned off into the tangled thicket.
within viii n it was almost certain We
would lind our quarry. We could still
follow the tracks. by the slight scrapes
Of the claws on the bark or by the
bent and broken twigs: and we advanced
with nOiscless caution, slowly
climbing over the dead tree-trunks and
upturned stumps. and not letting a
branch rustic or catch on u clothes.
When in the middle of the thicket We
crossed what was almost a breastwOrk
of fallen logs. and Merriiield. who was
leading, passed by the upright stem Of a
great pine. As soon rs he was by it he
sank suddenly on one knee. turning
half round. his face fairly atlame with
excitement, and As l strobe past him.
with my rifle at the ready. there. not
ten steps off. was the great bear. slow
~ rising from his bed among the young
spraces. He haG heard us. but appar-
entity hardly knew exactly where or
launches sideways to us. Then he saw
us and dropped down again on all foIrs,
the shaggy hair on his neck ami shout
ders seeming to bristle as he turned
toward Us. As he sank down on his
fOre-feet | had raised the rifle; his head
was bent slightly down. and when l saw
the top of the white bead fairly between
his small. glittering, evil eyes, l pulled
the trigger. Half rising up. the huge
beast fell over on his side in the death
throes, the ball having gone into its
brain. striking as fairly between the
eyes as if the distance had been meas
ured by q carpenters rule.
The whole thing wa over in twenty
seconds from the time | caught sight of
the game; indeed. it was over so quick
" that the grizzly did hot have time to
show fight at all OF come a step toward
us. 1t was the first / had ever seen.
and l felt not a Little proud as l stood
over the great brindled bulk. which lay
stretched out at length in the cool
shade of the evergreens. He was a
mOnstrous fellow, much larger than
any ] have seen since. whether alive or
brought in dead by the hunters. As
near as we could estimate Qor. of
course. we had nothing with which to
weigh more than very small poriions).
he must have weighed about twelve
hundred pounds; and though this is not
as large as some Of his kind are said TO
grow in California, it is yet q very IN
usual size for a bear. He was a good
deal heavier than any of our horses;
and it was with the greatest difficulty
that we were able to skin him. He
must have been very old. his teeth and
claws being all worn down and blunted:
but nevertheless he had been living in
plenty, for lie was as fat as Il prize hog.
the layers on his back being a fingers
length in thickness. He was still in the
summer coat, his hair being short. and
in color \ curious brindled brown.
somewhat like that of certain buli-dOgs;
while all the bears we shot afterwards
had the long thick winter fur. CHINA
mon or yellOwish brown. BY the way.
the mann of this bear has reference to
its character. and not to its color. and
should. I suppose, be properly spelled
grisly-in the sense of horr BILE. exactly
as we speak of '.grisly ~specter"-and
not grizzly; but perhaps the latter way
of spelling it is too well esta. 4ished 70
be now changed.
In killing dangerous game Seadiness
is more needed than good shooting. No
game is dangerous unless a man IS close
np, for nowadays hardly any wild beast
will charge from q distance Of . hum
drcd yards. but will rather try to run
OF, and il . man 10 close il is easy
enough for him to shoot straight If he
does not lose his head. A bear . brain
is about the ii Q of . pint bottle. aud
any one can hit > pint bottle o1-hand At
thirty or forty feet l have had two
shots at bears at close quarters. and
each time / fired into the brain. the bull
let in one ease striking fairly bc.w en-
the ewes. as told above. and in the other
going in between the eye and ear. A
novice At this kind o. sport will find