MORE ABOUT BEARS IN THE ROCKIES 245 



the latter as he left the thick scrub to feed on a patch of grass 

 which we were watching from an adjacent tree. We watched 

 the trails and feeding-places diligently but never had a shot at 

 those much coveted silver- tips, the biggest and most beautiful 

 of all, here called grizzlies, of which there were many about. 

 The willow scrub was too dense and too perfect a cover, and 

 there was no bait obtainable to draw the game out on to the open 

 patches of grass which we could watch. No deer were to be got, 

 no goats ; some of our horses, especially an old buckskin mare, 

 were indeed lucky to leave the place alive. 



In the " fall " we went out again and tried everything to get 

 within shot of bears of which fresh signs were plentiful, but luck 

 was not with us and we bagged nothing. We tied the cook to a 

 piece of meat by means of a long rope, which he trailed behind 

 him from where the bears had recently been digging, a polite 

 invitation for them to join us near where the meat was 

 subsequently fastened to a stake. A big silver-tip did appa- 

 rently take the hint ; we saw him slowly walking towards the 

 bait, his thick coat swaying to and fro at every step, when, 

 unfortunately, a draught from a valley behind gave him our wind. 

 The bear stopped suddenly, turned sharply, and disappeared 

 among the dense spruce scrub. Such is luck and the keenness of 

 a bear's nose ! That bear, although anxiously awaited morning 

 after morning and evening after evening, never showed himself 

 again ; the bait, however, was taken during the dark hours, 

 renewed and taken again. After that he came no more at night 

 but actually carried off the next piece in broad daylight, a most 

 unusual time, when, of course no one was there to see. We 

 gave up this gentleman after that, he was altogether too sharp 

 for us ! Unless a person stumbles by accident upon a bear the 

 chance of getting close to him is very remote ; bait is the only 

 means of drawing him within shot, and then only if the wind be 

 right, for bruin has a most highly developed nasal organ. My 

 hunter told me that if you rub dry bear gall on your clothes no 

 bear will smell you but we had first to get our bear ! Chewing 

 wild onion leaves is said to have the same effect with black 

 bears; we tried it, but nothing came near us, and I don't wonder! 



One is often told in those parts that so-and-so has shot a 

 great many bears, and no doubt the skins can be produced and 

 bullet holes shown, but I have strong suspicions that most of 



