68 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



her course on account of meeting her cub, and pursued 

 him until he disappeared from her sight in a precipice. 

 Feeling safe there, the red man halted to ease his breath- 

 ing, and he could then hear the loud yet gruff calls of the 

 mother to her cub. He felt so thankful for his hair- 

 breadth escape then that he never tried cub-stealing again, 

 for, in his opinion, an enraged grizzly mother is as bad and 

 fierce as the spirits of evil. 



One of the pleasantest chases after grizzlies that I ever 

 enjoyed came off in Southern California. The party, my- 

 self excepted, was composed of Greasers, or native Califor- 

 nians, and two Mexican Spaniards. As the hunt was or- 

 ganized for the special purpose of driving the bears out 

 of a section of country where they were committing sad 

 havoc among sheep, we selected the best and most expe- 

 rienced mustangs to be found in a large area, and, arming 

 ourselves with rifles and revolvers, we started for the foot- 

 hills from our rendezvous at 5 P.M., and encamped that 

 night under the shade of some oak-trees, having built a 

 rousing fire to keep away all quadrupedal intruders. Af- 

 ter supper we devoted ourselves assiduously up to mid- 

 night to puffing cigarettes, singing songs, and relating 

 hunting experiences. The last "story" was told by a 

 swarthy old veteran, and according to that he had killed a 

 bear single-handed with only a hunting- knife, by simply 

 evading a blow of its paw, and then cutting its jugular 

 vein before it could meet his attack. Having slept sound- 

 ly, we awoke promptly at 4 A.M., and, after partaking of a 

 light breakfast, we loaded our rifles and revolvers, and sad- 

 dled our steeds, and were in motion in less than an hour. 



Deploying in skirmishing order, and in the form of a 

 crescent, we advanced toward a coppice of oaks half a mile 

 in front, which grizzlies were known to frequent. We were 

 accompanied by a dozen mongrel dogs of many breeds, and 

 they were taken by one of the party to the top of a hill, so 

 that they might drive the quarry toward us. He took the 

 precaution to keep to. the leeward of the copse, for if even 

 the daring grizzly caught the odor of humanity, it would 



