202 THE ASHOCHIMI. 
Indians gave a loud, exultant shout. The grizzly startled by the sound 
rose from the ground, and with the last glimmering ray of life plunged into 
the ravine ahead. Running across the intervening space, the hunters 
saw his lifeless body in the bottom ef the gorge. In their eager haste they 
had not noticed the thousand minute jets of steam issuing from the hillside, 
uor did they hear the hoarse, rushing sound that filled the canon with a 
continuous roar, until just as they reached the body. 
Halting, amazed, they found themselves standing on the brink of the 
Witches’ Caldron, in the midst of the hissing, seething Geysers. One hor- 
rified, ghastly look at the smoky, steaming hillsides; one breath of the puff- 
ing, sulphurous vapor; one terrified glance at the trembling, springy earth, 
and the frightened hunters darted back down the canon. With stoical 
skepticism the aged chief and council listened to the tale the hunters told 
as the tribe gathered around the camp-fire. Earth that smoked! Water 
that boiled and bubbled without fire! Steam that issued from holes in the 
ground with a noise like the rushing of the storm-wind! Impossible! But 
the two young braves were noted for courage and truthfulness, and at last 
they prevailed on a score of their fellows to return with them. It was all 
true. There lay the dead bear by the black, seething waters that were 
hotter than fire could make them. After a thorough examination, the medi- 
cine-men concluded that the strange mineral waters must have rare healing 
properties. Booths of willows were erected over the jets of steam, and the 
sick laid thereon. The canon became a favorite resort of the red men, and 
all the Coast Range tribes came hither with their invalids | Many wonder- 
ful cures were effected, and yet, occasionally, things happened that con- 
vineed the superstitious medicine-men that the place was under the control 
of an evil spirit. 
Finally, one cloudy night, a strange, rumbling sound rose through the 
darkness, and the earth trembled violently. After that no one approached 
the spot for many days. 
It is a common belief among the Coast Indians that evil spirits fre- 
quently dwell within the bodies of grizzlies. It was now universally believed 
that the spirit of the slaughtered bear had charge of the Geysers. There 
were many sick and dying with a strange plague, or pestilence that had 
suddenly appeared among the tribe. Something must be done. Many 
