216 HUNTING TRIPS 



bank, and had probably been attracted by 

 the smell of the horses. After it made out 

 what we were it stayed round a short while, 

 again uttered its peculiar roaring grunt, and 

 went off; we had seized our rifles and had 

 run out into the woods, but in the darkness 

 could see nothing ; indeed it was rather lucky 

 we did not stumble across the bear, as he 

 could have made short work of us when we 

 were at such a disadvantage. 



Next day we went off on a long tramp 

 through the woods and along the sides of 

 the canyons. There were plenty of berry 

 bushes growing in clusters; and all around 

 these there were fresh tracks of bear. But 

 the grizzly is also a flesh-eater, and has a 

 great liking for carrion. On visiting the 

 place where Merrifield had killed the black 

 bear, we found that the grizzlies had been 

 there before us, and had utterly devoured 

 the carcass, with cannibal relish. Hardly a 

 scrap was left, and we turned our steps to- 

 ward where lay the bull elk I had killed. It 

 was quite late in the afternoon when we 



