178 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



own age, but never did. Just what cubs do 

 on such eventful occasions, just what the wilder- 

 ness etiquette is for such meetings, I hope some- 

 time to discover. 



The day the cubs were catching grasshoppers 

 their colour came out clearly as they moved 

 about in the sunlight. The colour of each was 

 grayish brown. Often grizzly cubs have coats 

 unlike in colour. The cubs were plump and 

 clean, nearly of a size, the leader being a trifle 

 the largest of the three. He probably weighed 

 one hundred and fifty pounds. 



A month after I left this region two hunters 

 came upon the cubs in a partly willow-filled 

 opening by a stream in the woods. Only one 

 cub was seen. Both hunters fired at short 

 range. The cub was knocked down and appar- 

 ently severely wounded. He set up a terrible 

 bawling and wailing as he thrashed about in the 

 willows. The hunters hurried to right and to 

 left to get another shot at him. 



The other two cubs at once charged the hunt- 

 ers. One of the men, seeing a cub coming, all 

 bristled up and snarling, and only a few jumps 

 off, dropped his rifle, leaped up, and caught a 

 limb and swung himself into a tree. He lost a 

 legging from the stroke of the cub and barely es- 

 caped the terrific blow of the cub's paw. The 

 other cub the lame leader was upon the 



