66 A GRIZZLY BEAR. 



our animals and packs, and prepared ourselves for a de 

 termined resistance to any thing like robbery. We were 

 nat molested, however, and we enjoyed a tolerable rest. 



About daybreak we were aroused by a loud shout. On 

 inquiry, we learned that an enormous bear had been dis- 

 covered in the vicinity of the camp, and that it had car- 

 ried off a dog belonging to one of the chiefs. A hunting 

 party was immediately organised, under our direction. It 

 was composed of twenty of the best hunters among tb< 

 Shoshonees, and the command was given to Joe Blaney 

 The track was boldly marked, and easily followed. It 

 led us along the bottoms, and then up the mountains a 

 short distance, when it descended a broad and deep ra- 

 vine, where the bushes grew high and thick enough to 

 afford shelter to the largest animal to be found among the 

 mountains. Here Joe commanded a halt, while he ad- 

 vanced .around the brink of the ravine, to reconnoitre. 

 But he could see no trace of the bear. We then con- 

 cluded to descend the ravine cautiously in two parties, 

 one to follow the bear's trail, under Joe's command, and 

 the other to descend from the opposite side of the ravine, 

 under my lead. 



When both columns were "in position," to use a mili- 

 tary phrase, we slowly commenced the descent, amid the 

 thick and gloomy bushes. Near the bottom of the ravine, 

 Joe and I discovered the monster almost at the sama 



