My First Trip to the Selkirks in 



one of those bald-faced fighters that we had come to find, 

 so we determined that if he was there in the morning we 

 would make an effort to get him. 



In the morning, sure enough, the bear was there, so we 

 took our guns and started for the cliff. It was a terrific 

 climb. The hill was so steep that in many places we could 

 only proceed by literally pulling ourselves up hand over 

 hand by the bushes. However, after three hours of heart- 

 breaking work, we gained the slide, but only to find our 

 patch of grass unreachable. In fact, the bushes were so 

 high and thick that we could not even see it; nor, guarded 

 as it was by declivities and obstructions, could we be cer- 

 tain where it lay. Fagged and footsore we climbed back 

 to camp. And there, high above us, and serenely beckon- 

 ing in the sunlight, F hung our elusive clearing, and that even- 

 ing the big white grizzly again came out to mock us. We 

 named him "White Jim," and morning and evening, for 

 nearly three weeks, we saw that bear on this same patch of 

 ground. He had a way of sitting on his haunches near the 

 edge and swinging his head from side to side as though 

 enjoying the view. At last, as day by day the memory of 

 our difficulty grew fainter and the lure of that great white 

 skin grew greater, we could stand it no longer, and de- 

 cided to make another try, and this time to go prepared to 

 stay all night. So, for the second time, we scaled the all 

 but unscalable mountain, but not a place that was level 

 enough to lie on could we find, and worse yet, just as we got 

 there, a sudden and heavy wind set in. It snowed on the 

 hills and rained down in the bottoms, and, soaked and slip- 

 ping, we were glad enough to get back to camp with whole 

 bones, and never again tried to steal the pelt of White Jim. 



