CHAPTER XIX. 



THE GRISLY BEAR. 



[HE life of an Indian hunter is daily broken up 

 by feats of daring, which, to be faithfully 

 described, would need the pen of a Cooper. 

 The different tribes of these children of the 

 desert have each their hero, famous for a courage and 

 skill of which he has given proof in various ways the 

 one by the intelligence with which he followed up an 

 enemy's trail, the other by the number of wild animals he 

 has killed. To be a great hunter is to hold a high posi- 

 tion, an elevated rank, among the Indians ; in the eyes of 

 these peoples it is a title almost equivalent to that of 

 " prince " in Europe ; and the exploits which have pro- 

 cured him the dignity are for him, as it is for us, civilized 

 men, a trophy composed of the decorations of all the king- 

 doms and empires of the universe. 



