258 The Grizzly Bear 



were found to have plugged up the bullet holes with moss 

 to stop the flow of blood. 



When I returned I hunted the old fellow up, and told 

 him that the bears were too wild to hunt with any show 

 of success; but he merely looked me up and down, remark- 

 ing that this was my first hunt, and intimated that if I kept 

 on hunting and remained of the same opinion, people 

 would not be bothered long with my presence above 

 ground. 



And I dare say that up to a certain point he was honest 

 with me. These old fellows are as full of superstition as an 

 egg is of meat. There are a hundred bits of wood-lore and 

 animal legend that they have taken on faith, and that, 

 not being at all vital to the conduct of their own affairs, 

 they have never even questioned and would never think 

 to question. They are quite devoid of what might be 

 called scientific curiosity. The one thing about a bear 

 that interests them is his hide. The only facts they ever 

 learn about him are how to lure him into traps. If this 

 old man had ever really shot a grizzly, had ever come into 

 closer quarters with one than to set a deadfall for him, I 

 have no doubt that he looked back upon the adventure 

 much as St. George may have looked upon his set-to 

 with the dragon; and the tale of his prowess had grown 

 in the telling until he believed in the revised version him- 

 self. I have heard many of these old fellows declare 

 that the mountain lion of California has a mane like the 

 African lion, and that they had killed these animals that 

 would measure from twelve to thirteen feet from tip to 

 tip. 



And, of course, we must not mix up the entirely dis- 



