148 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



moving the decaying flesh from the bones. But 

 after one whiff from the windward side, he asked 

 a pertinent question, was I fond of trout, and 

 upon my answering yes, remarked that he knew of 

 a creek where he could get some beauties, and im- 

 mediately disappeared. I saw him no more that 

 morning. 



At the first thrust of my knife into the bear, the 

 stench was so horrible that I grew deathly sick. I 

 filled my pipe and tried to find relief in smoking, but 

 even then the odor was overpowering, and I smoked 

 and sickened through the livelong day, until I had 

 cleaned the filthy flesh from the bones, and they had 

 been tied up in gunny-sacks and hung in a tree to 

 dry. Then into the creek I went and with soap and 

 sand scrubbed and scoured my body; but the horrid 

 smell still hung about me, and I could eat neither 

 supper nor breakfast the next morning, although at 

 dinner I managed to stow away a good square meal. 

 But even now, after thirty years, if you say " bear " 

 to me, I can smell that bear. 



At Klamath I hired for my assistant a man named 

 George Loosely. I also bought two saddle ponies 

 and one to carry the pack; and with a government 

 tent and other outfit and rations purchased at the 

 commissary, we had our flour baked into bread by v 

 the post baker, we started for Silver Lake, al- 

 though no one at the post could give us any direc- 



