224 HUNTING TRIPS 



as I stood over the great brindled bulk, which 

 lay stretched out at length in the cool shade 

 of the evergreens. He was a monstrous fel- 

 low, much larger than any I have seen since, 

 whether alive or brought in dead by the 

 hunters. As near as we could estimate ( for 

 of course we had nothing with which to 

 weigh more than very small portions) he 

 must have weighed about twelve hundred 

 pounds, and though this is not as large as 

 some of his kind are said to grow in Cali- 

 fornia, it is yet a very unusual size for a 

 bear. He was a good deal heavier than any 

 of our horses ; and it was with the greatest 

 difficulty that we were able to skin him. He 

 must have been very old, his teeth and claws 

 being all worn down and blunted ; but never- 

 theless he had been living in plenty, for he 

 was as fat as a prize hog, the layers on his 

 back being a finger's length in thickness. 

 He was still in the summer coat, his hair be- 

 ing short, and in color a curious brindled 

 brown, somewhat like that of certain bull- 

 dogs; while all the bears we shot afterward 



