170 THE UPPER YUKON 



of the farther side of the river to a moving 

 animal that he took to be a wolverine, but 

 that I thought w^as a bear. It proved that 

 I was right, for it really was a silver-tipped 

 grizzly. He was feeding on bear-root or 

 wild parsnips. He would stop and dig 

 for two or three minutes at a time, pulling 

 up the roots with his claws, and then he 

 would pass on to another bunch. He was 

 perhaps two miles away in a direct line 

 and a mile further down stream than we 

 were. The wind was blowing crossways. If 

 the bear followed his present line of travel, he 

 would naturally keep on until he struck the 

 river on our side, and swimming across he 

 would head for the timber that we had just 

 left. This was the Chief's judgment, and he 

 was right. If the wind, which was blowing 

 very strong, maintained its present course and 

 the bear his line of travel, he would strike our 

 scent about a hundred yards before he reached 

 the river. Our only chance of a successful 

 stalk was to work over at right angles to his 

 course. So tethering our mounts, we kept a 

 sharp watch on the bear's movements. We 

 ran when he was digging, and then dropped 

 down on all fours while he was walking. 

 For three-quarters of an hour we made good 



