Early History — Lewis and Clark 17 



abundant; his liver, lungs, and heart much larger even in 

 proportion to his size, the heart being equal to that of a 

 large ox; his maw ten times larger. Besides fish and flesh 

 he feeds on roots and every kind of wild fruit." 



May II, 1805. "About five in the afternoon one of 

 our men (Bratton), who had been afflicted with boils and 

 suffered to walk on shore, came running to the boats with 

 loud cries and every symptom of terror and distress. For 

 some time after we had taken him on board he was so 

 much out of breath as to be unable to describe the cause 

 of his anxiety; but he at length told us that about a mile 

 and a half below he had shot a brown bear, which had 

 immediately turned and was in close pursuit of him; but 

 the bear, being badly wounded, could not overtake him. 

 Captain Lewis, with seven men, immediately went in 

 search of him; having found his track, followed him by 

 the blood for a mile, found him concealed in some thick 

 brushwood and shot him with two balls through the skull. 

 Though somewhat smaller than that killed a few days 

 ago, he was a monstrous animal and a most terrible 

 enemy. Our man shot him through the centre of the 

 lungs, yet he had pursued him furiously for half a mile, 

 then returned more than twice that distance, and with his 

 talons prepared himself a bed in the earth two feet deep 

 and five feet long; he was perfectly alive when they found 

 him, which was at least two hours after he had received 

 the wound. The wonderful power of life which these 

 animals possess renders them dreadful; their very track in 

 the mud or sand, which we have sometimes found eleven 

 inches long and seven and one-fourth inches wide, ex- 

 clusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather 



