MORE ABOUT BEARS IN THE ROCKIES 243 



water which ran over our ground in a thousand streams from 

 the now melting snow towards the river. 



Our party consisted of myself, the hunter, a Swede by hirth, 

 but long resident in Canada, with much experience in bear 

 hunting besides being a charming companion, Fred Anderson 

 by name. The cook, Sandy Fraser, although many years away 

 from the land o' cakes, still proudly wore his glengarry cap 

 adorned with a silver lion, an article of apparel he had brought 

 with him from Scotland over thirty years ago. His other garments 

 seemed to date from a similar period. We had seven horses 

 and three "bear dogs," "Tim" and "Jumbo," collies, and 

 " Jack," a mixture of collie and retriever, who had not escaped 

 unscathed from numerous encounters with wounded bears. He 

 had a huge scar on his back and a broken hind leg, which 

 luckily had mended well and now gave him no trouble ; nor had 

 his wounds affected his nerve. 



Jack made a pretty picture when his keen nose warned him 

 of the presence of a bear. If not very near he would simply 

 sniff the air ; if close, the dog trembled all over in the greatest 

 excitement, tucked in his tail and drew up one forefoot, pointing 

 as a pointer does at partridges. A quick, imploring look at his 

 master said almost in words, " Please do let me have a hunt." 



From both banks of the swollen river rose the almost parallel 

 mountain ranges, that on the right abruptly, but leaving the 

 narrow strip on our side which gradually rose as it approached 

 the hills. With the exception of a long, swampy grass-grown 

 meadow in front of our tents, the valley was clothed partly with 

 spruces of all ages and partly by a dense growth of willow 6 to 

 8 feet high. The former here and there ran up the mountain- 

 sides, but kept well clear of where the huge masses of snow 

 slide down in the early spring ; the latter, almost impenetrable to 

 man or beast, flourish where the spruces are not, at the edges 

 and foot of the snow-slides, often extending as far as the river 

 bank and enclosing small patches of meadow where bears could 

 frequently be seen feeding and digging up roots. The snow- 

 slides now were bare rock or covered with loose stones except 

 where earth remained ; there a luxuriant vegetation had sprung 

 up on the disappearance of the snow, of grass, herbs, flowers, and 

 ferns. Here again bears dig up roots and tubers, especially 

 those of the wild potato and onion, travelling through the dense 



