lO.S Bird-Nesthui 



' blazer,' worn by his feline majesty of Bengal, while you your- 

 self are squatted in a howdah strapped to the back of a twenty- 

 odd hand elephant, wliile a tribe of bare-legged natives yell 

 and scream and hoot to keep their own courage up and drive 

 the jungle prowler to ' Massah Sahib.' You will probably get 

 the tiger, and, should he charge, experience an excitement 

 something similar to that felt by a marine perched high in the 

 maintop of some old-fashioned liner repelling boarders ; but 

 there is comparativel}^ little peril in the whole business for 

 you. 



" Shooting the grizzly has none of these refining influences ; 

 the big plantigrade is always looking for trouble, and when he 

 digs up the hatchet look out for squalls. You will have no 

 friendly elephant, nor army of beaters to satisfy his craving 

 for somebody's scalp : you start on his track, and follow him 

 into his gloomy fastnesses amid a chaos of rocks, with your 

 life in one hand and your rifle in the other ; and, unless you 

 are made of the right material, stop before the scent gets too 

 hot, or peradventure you may be found empty handed by your 

 party. 



" However, this spice of dan — , or rather this danger spiced 

 with a chance of escape, is very fascinating : and, if you would 

 fain be fascinated to your heart's content, seek the Rocky 

 Mountains or British Columbia, and enjoy your whim. 



" And such fields for sport ! not pen, nor brush, nor tongue 

 can convey the proper idea of the sublimity of those marvel- 

 lous mountains ; they are something too imposing for mere 

 words : they must be seen and studied. One must live among 

 them and watch the glories of sunlight upon their everlasting- 

 snows and glaciers ; must climb their steeps and breathe the 

 cold, thin atmosphere of those dizzy elevations, and train his 

 eyes to measure soaring pinnacles and dark abysses ere he can 

 realize their stupendous grandeur. One must hear the thun- 

 derous voice of the whirling storms amid their peaks ; the 

 avalanche tearing the forests from their native slopes ; the 

 avulsion of crag and giant bowlder from buttresses frowning 

 darkly above the clouds, and the booming echoes of waves of 



