212 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



we all descended to the place where the bear was lying, almost 

 dead. In fact, it died while we were standing over it. 



" Well done ; that was a fine shot, and we've got the grizzly 

 bear at last," exclaimed Jem Bourne. "27tebear? This is not 

 the bear that Big Bill ran from," I replied ; " impossible, this is a 

 silver-tip, and not a true grizzly." The argument that ensued 

 over the carcase of that bear was quite enough to make me an 

 unbeliever in the ordinary accounts of native hunters. I calcu- 

 lated that the body weighed about 600 Ibs., as my two men were 

 6 feet high, and exceedingly powerful, and our united efforts could 

 not move the bear one inch from the spot where it had fallen ; it 

 may have exceeded that weight, as it was full of fat, and in the 

 finest condition. We skinned it, and had some trouble to induce 

 the horse to permit the hide to be lashed upon its back. Although 

 a fine bear, Big Bill on our return would not acknowledge that it 

 could be compared with the monster which he had seen with such 

 "a smiling countenance." I was quite of his opinion, as the 

 tracks which I saw in the snow were very much larger than the 

 paws of the bear that I have described. 



The foot of a bear leaves a print very similar to that of a 

 human being who happens to be flat-footed, but the breadth is 

 larger in proportion to that of a man. It is a curious fact, that a 

 shot through the kidneys of any creature occasions almost instant- 

 aneous death, and the animal falls immediately, as though shot 

 through the neck ; this proves the terrible shock to the system, as 

 the body is smitten with a total paralysis. 



The opinions of professional hunters differ in such an extra- 

 ordinary manner upon the question of bears, that it would be 

 impossible for a mere visitor to arrive at a satisfactory decision. 

 It is admitted by all that the grizzly bear is the monarch ; next 

 to him in size is the cinnamon bear, named from the colour of its 

 fur ; No. 3 is the silver-tipped ; and No. 4 is the black bear. 



The question to be decided remains : " Is the cinnamon bear 

 the grizzly, with some local difference in colour?" My people 

 called the silver-tipped bears "grizzlies," which was an evident 

 absurdity ; but, as they were men experienced in the Big Horn 

 range, it was difficult to disbelieve their evidence concerning the 

 occasional presence of a true grizzly. I found, whilst riding 

 through an extensive forest of spruce fir, an enormous skull of a 

 bear, the largest that I have ever seen, except that of the grizzly, 

 compared with which all others were mere babies ; what could 

 this have been, unless a true sjttcimen of that variety ? 



There can be little doubt that bears of different kinds inter- 



