x THE BEAR 213 



mingle occasionally by cross breeds, and many are met with which 

 do not exactly correspond with the colouring which distinguishes 

 the varieties already mentioned ; but in my opinion those distinct 

 varieties actually exist, and any departure occasioned by cross 

 breeding is simply an accident. Eighteen months before my visit 

 to the Big Horn range, the present Lord Lonsdale, together with 

 a large party, was hunting upon the same ground, and at that 

 time the country, being new to British sportsmen, was undis- 

 turbed. The bears were so numerous and unsophisticated that 

 the party bagged thirty-two, and game of all kinds indigenous to 

 the locality was in the superlative. It is astonishing that any 

 game remains after the persistent attacks of gunners, especially in 

 such countries, where open plains expose the animals to the sight 

 of man. In the Big Horn range, at high altitudes of from 8000 

 to 12,000 feet, the open grass prairie-ground predominates. There 

 are plateaux and hill-tops; deep canyons or clefts, from 1500 to 

 2000 feet sheer, like sudden rifts in the earth's surface ; long 

 secluded valleys, with forest-covered bottoms extending for many 

 miles, and slopes of every conceivable gradient descending to a 

 lower level of frightfully broken ground, joining the foot of the 

 main range of Rocky Mountains at a distance of from 70 to 90 

 miles. There are also isolated patches of cotton-wood upon the 

 sides of slopes, which afford excellent covert for deer and bears. 



The actual width from margin to margin of the high land does 

 not exceed 26 miles, although the length may be 100. It may 

 readily be imagined that a month's shooting upon this area would 

 be sufficient to scare the animals from the neighbourhood, more 

 especially as the hunters are invariably on horseback, and traverse 

 great distances each day. 



When I was there we very seldom found bears upon the open, 

 as they retired to the obscurity of the forests before break of day. 

 Bob Stewart assured me that two seasons ago it was impossible to 

 ride out in the early morning without seeing bears, but he counted 

 up a long reckoning of seventy-two killed since the visit of Lord 

 Lonsdale's party. This must have sensibly diminished the stock, 

 and have afforded considerable experience to the survivors. Never- 

 theless upon several occasions bears exhibited themselves during 

 broad daylight without being sought for. 



We were tired of nothing but venison in every shape, and 

 although the German cook, "little Henry," was a good fellow, he 

 could not manage to change the menu without other provisions in 

 the larder. I accordingly devoted myself one afternoon to shoot- 

 ing "sage-hens"; this is a species of grouse about the size of a 



