CHAPTER H. 



I. GRIZZLY BEARS. 



OF all the quadrupeds of America, the grizzly bear is 

 the only one that is truly formidable, and therefore his 

 manners, his habits, and his exploits are the favourite 

 theme of the hunters of the West. His size is enor- 

 mous, and his strength prodigious ; his speed far 

 superior to that of a man endeavouring to escape from 

 him by flight, His claws are nearly nine inches in 

 length. Although he is very fond of fruits, acorns, and 

 roots, he is carnivorous as well as herbivorous. He 

 attacks the buffalo, fells him to ithe ground, and drags 

 him to some spot where he can feed on him at leisure. 

 If a man attacks him, he squats on his hind paws 

 and accepts (ho combat ; and when pressed by hunger, 

 he becomes the assailant. When wounded, he becomes 

 furious, and then the tables are turned, and man is 

 hunted. He was formerly known on the Missouri and 

 in the low countries, but, like the tribes of the prairies, 

 he has gradually beaten retreat before the march of civi- 



