3H Old Ephraim. 



fellow, much larger than any I have seen since, whether 

 alive or brought in dead by the hunters. As near as we 

 could estimate (for of course we had nothing with which 

 to weigh more than very small portions) 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 Cali- 

 fornia, it is yet a very unusual 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 he was as fat as a prize hog, the 

 layers on his back being a finger's length in thickness. 

 He was still in the summer coat, his hair being short, and 

 in color a curious brindled brown, somewhat like that of 

 certain bull-dogs ; while all the bears we shot afterward 

 had the long thick winter fur, cinnamon or yellowish 

 brown. By the way, the name of this bear has reference 

 to its character and not to its color, and should, I sup- 

 pose, be properly spelt grisly in the sense of horrible, 

 exactly as we speak of a " grisly spectre " and not griz- 

 zly ; but perhaps the latter way of spelling it is too well 

 established to be now changed. 



In killing dangerous game steadiness is more needed 

 than good shooting. No game is dangerous unless a man 

 is close up, for nowadays hardly any wild beast will charge 

 from a distance of a hundred yards, but will rather try to 

 run off ; and if a man is close it is easy enough for him 

 to shoot straight if he does not lose his head. A bear's 

 brain is about the size of a pint bottle ; and any one can 



