x THE BEAR 209 



venison ; but their horns were still in velvet, and would not be 

 clean until October. I could have shot several of these animals ; 

 but I was full of good resolutions to resist all temptation, and to 

 restrict my shooting to the long-sought bear. 



We had followed the course of the ravine for about a mile, when 

 I suddenly heard a tremendous rush among the cotton trees beneath 

 me on the right, followed by excited shouts " Look out ! look 

 out ! A bear ! a bear ! " 



I halted immediately, and in a few seconds three splendid 

 wapiti stags broke covert about 100 yards before me, and at full 

 gallop passed across the open ground by which I was descending. 

 My good resolutions crowded upon me as I instinctively aimed at 

 the stag with the finest head, and I resisted the temptation nobly 

 until they were nearly out of sight, passing down a hollow on my 

 left about 150 yards distant. Somehow or other I pulled the 

 trigger ; a cloud of dust suddenly arose from the spot where the 

 three stags had disappeared, and I felt sure that the wapiti was 

 down. 



At the sound of the shot my men struggled up the steep ascent 

 and joined me. " Why did you shout ' A bear ! a bear ! ' 1 " I 

 asked. " It was a bear, wasn't it ? I saw a great brown rump 

 for a moment, and I thought it was the bear." "No bear at all," 

 I answered, " and I have been fool enough to shoot at a wapiti. 

 ... I think you will find it just in the hollow beneath the ridge." 



The men rode to the spot, and sure enough a magnificent stag 

 was lying dead, shot through the shoulder. A wapiti stag weighs 

 about 900 Ibs. when fat in August and September. The fat upon 

 the brisket of this animal was 5 inches thick, and that upon the 

 rump and loins was nearly 3 inches. We cut this off in one com- 

 plete piece, and when cold, within half an hour it stood up like a 

 cuirass. This was one of the finest that I ever saw, and we took 

 the trouble to cut up all the choicest joints, and concealed them in 

 the branches of a species of yew that was growing upon the edge 

 of the ravine. The delay from my folly in taking this shot exceeded 

 an hour, but the head of the stag was a handsome specimen, and 

 we placed it upon a large boulder of rock, to be sent for upon a 

 future occasion. 



We again recommenced our search, comforting ourselves with 

 the reflection that "if the bear was in the ravine, the report of 

 the shot would not affect it ; and if it was not in the ravine, it 

 would not matter." 



As we continued the descent of the mountain slope, the ravine 

 grew wider, and it was now quite 100 yards across ; this would 



P 



