Nights with the Grizzlies 



In the process of skinning the bear, it was 

 found that this was not the first encounter he 

 had had with mankind. In the muscles of 

 the neck, and of the right fore leg above the 

 elbow and next to the bone, were found four 

 rifle-balls, and a large fragment of another 

 ball. The wounds had healed up, and each 

 ball was inclosed in a sac with the appear- 

 ance of having been there several years: 

 one 42-caliber 205-grain lead ball lay in 

 the muscles of the neck, another of same cali- 

 ber and weight, two 50-caliber 3 75 -grain lead 

 balls, and the large flattened fragment of a 

 ball were in the muscles of one fore leg next 

 to the bone. The 42-caliber balls I judged 

 were fired from a '66 model, 44-caliber 

 Winchester, and as all the balls were little 

 battered and did not shatter the bone, they 

 must have been fired from a rim-fire car- 

 tridge ; all the balls were cannelured. 



The bear I was after when this one was 

 stumbled on, took to his heels and dis- 

 appeared rapidly over the mountain after 

 the second shot. We went for the first one 

 seen, but the dogs getting the wind of him, 



and having a taste of bear's blood, igno- 



223 



