120 THE LAND OF THE LION 
threw himself up and over the mound to drive off the 
intruder. That was, of course, not a premeditated charge. 
I had to shoot quick, because he was very near and could 
not well stop the impetus of his rush, I do not think he had 
time even to try; but I am confident all the same, that that 
bear’s Jast mental impressions were those of dismay and 
not fury. 
The largest bear I ever had the good fortune to kill, 
and he was a very large one, I came on suddenly in the 
dark, as I felt my way along a narrow mountain trail to- 
ward the cheering spot of camp fire that burned far below, 
lit by my hunter to guide me to our solitary bivouac. I 
did not see him till he loomed up before me, Very high 
he looked in the darkness, and very near. He did not 
charge nor did he get out of the way. But then all savage 
beasts know their advantage at night, and are not ready 
to forego it. 
I know many of my readers may not be convinced by 
these statements of mine, yet I am confident there is weight 
in them. Remember, too, that seven times out of ten 
when a grizzly bear was first seen, he was grubbing under 
stones on the higher mountain slope along which he would 
move almost as fast as a good man could walk. He had 
to be followed, perhaps for hours at a fast walk. When 
at last the hunter drew near, he was pretty well spent with 
climbing, and was inclined, unless he was an old hand, 
to save himself the trouble of mounting some hundred 
feet higher than his game, so took his shot from below. 
The grizzly’s haunts would be down the steep, not up, 
some woody canyon, from which he had started, he would 
be sure to make for, at the first alarm, His sight is poor. 
He cannot distinguish, among the boulders strewn about, 
the spot of brown that is shooting at him. He simply 
plunges downward and homeward, and if the man is on 
his way, he will run into him or over him. 
