IX. 

 THE GREAT GRIZZLY BEAR. 



(Ursus Ferox.) 



"The Indians have unbounded reverence for this 

 bear. When they kill one, they make exculpating 

 speeches to It, smoke tobacco to it, call it grand- 

 father, ancestor, etc." 



P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M. B., F. R. S., F. G. S. 



Kings College, London. 



The Indians with whom I once lived in 

 the Californian Sierras held the grizzly 

 bear in great respect and veneration. Some 

 writers have said that this was because 

 they were afraid of this terrible king of 

 beasts. But this is not true. The Indian, 

 notwithstanding his almost useless Dow 

 and arrow in battles with this monster, 

 was not controlled by fear. He venerated 

 the grizzly bear as his paternal ancestor. 

 And here I briefly set down the Modoc and 

 Mount Shasta Indians' account of their 

 own creation. 



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