238 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



side are visited by bears, who, foul feeders as they are, pick up 

 any tasty morsel, crack the shin-bones, and lick out the foetid 

 marrow and the numerous beetles which this dainty article 

 attracts. Anything and everything is food for bears, they are 

 not particular ; their stomach never rebels happy creatures ! 



While the sun was rapidly preparing the venison to bruin's 

 liking we roamed over the mountains looking for other bears, 

 admiring as we went the beautiful mountain scenery, the bright 

 verdure of grass and herbs which framed the bright patches 

 of colour of innumerable wild flowers, the grand spruces and 

 pines with golden-brown stems. Black-tailed deer, now horn- 

 less, and still in their grey winter coat, were remarkably tame, 

 and numerous ground and tree-squirrels busily dissected fir 

 cones, and here and there a cock blue grouse strutted and 

 swaggered along the trunk of a fallen tree. A fine fellow this, 

 in a bluish-grey coat ; his jet-black tail, barred with white on 

 the under-surface, is raised and spread out to the full like a fan ; 

 the brightest orange membrane above the eyes and beautiful 

 white collar are displayed to the utmost as, with head well up 

 and ludicrously high step, he marches majestically along, 

 every now and then shaking and rattling his opened wings to 

 attract the attention of his wife or wives a proud monarch 

 indeed ! 



At last, one afternoon came Aeneas's marching order : " I tink 

 deer stink now, we go," and we went, climbing the mountain 

 near the top of which our bait lay upon a huge rock overlooking 

 the steep slope. It was a fatiguing walk, but all fatigue 

 vanished when, on approaching the spot, Aeneas's face widened 

 into a satisfied grin as he whispered the inspiriting words, 

 " Dere is grizzly; he sleep." Unable at first to see the bear, 

 my attention was soon drawn to a yellow patch near the end 

 of the rock the bear's nose, nothing else was visible, and that 

 snout a hundred yards away, immediately above us. The inten- 

 tion to let sleeping bears lie until we should have got round and 

 above our friend was nipped in the bud; bruin had already 

 heard or smelt us, probably the latter, for it was very hot, and 

 raising his head with a yawn, he lazily sniffed the air in all 

 directions. Now, although taught never to fire at a bear from 

 below, grizzlies were scarce, and the probability of this one 

 retiring to where he would at once become invisible was great ; 



