THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 211 



if the beai' has a companion it is wise to leave the 

 pair to themselves. He will also be able to ascertain 

 the age of the creature, the time which has elapsed 

 since he retired to his den; and this wonderful 

 perspicacity of divination is one of the most extra- 

 ordinary qualifications of the Red Skins. The most 

 experienced European hunter would be puzzled to 

 say which of two caverns was tenanted by a bear ; 

 but a trapper will say : " Judging by the marks 

 which the bear has left outside, I am sure that it 

 hasn't been out for three months. See here ; the 

 herbage is not trodden down, and there's no mark 

 upon the ground but these foot-prints, all of which 

 are turned towards the inside of the cave ; therefore 

 I know he's at home. There's only one bear there, 

 because the foot-prints are regular, and all alike in 

 every respect. I know it's a heavy bear by the size 

 of the paws, and ver}^ fat, because the hinder paws 

 don't come up to the fore paws in walking, as they 

 always do with a thin bear." 



This is the kind of judicious observation w^hich a 

 hunter will make, and mysterious as they may be at 

 first sight, when they are explained to you, you 

 cannot fail to perceive and applaud the ability with 

 which Nature has instructed her children. How is 

 it (some one may ask) that the grizzly bear is so 

 formidable to a whole party of hunters, who en- 

 counter it in the open forest, when a single man may 

 fearlessly attack him in his cave and slay him ? 



p 2 



