HUNTING THE GRISLY. 117 



and there was no doubt that he believed what 

 he said, and that his companion was actually 

 killed by a bear ; but it is probable that he was 

 mistaken in reading the signs of his comrade's 

 fate, and that the latter was not dogged by 

 the bear at all, but stumbled on him and was 

 slain in the surprise of the moment. 



At any rate, cases of wanton assaults by 

 grislies are altogether out of the common. 

 The ordinary hunter may live out his whole 

 life in the wilderness and never know aught of 

 a bear attacking a man unprovoked ; and the 

 great majority of bears are shot under cir- 

 cumstances of no special excitement, as they 

 either make no fight at all, or, if they do fight, 

 are killed before there is any risk of their doing 

 damage. If surprised on the plains, at some 

 distance from timber or from badly broken 

 ground, it is no uncommon feat for a single 

 horseman to kill them with a revolver. Twice 

 of late years it has been performed in the 

 neighborhood of my ranch. In both instances 

 the men were not hunters out after game, but 

 simply cowboys, riding over the range in early 

 morning in pursuance of their ordinary duties 

 among the cattle. I knew both men and have 

 worked with them on the round-up. Like 

 most cowboys they carried 44-calibre Colt re- 

 volvers, and were accustomed to and fairly 

 expert in their use, and they were mounted on 

 ordinary cow-ponies quick, wiry, plucky little 

 beasts. In one case the bear was seen from 

 quite a distance, lounging across a broad 

 table-land. The cowboy, by taking advantage 



