BEAR HUNTING. 149 
A doe and fawn, killed by the incomparable ‘Wagon, 
afforded us a savory meal, cooked Indian fashion, and our 
minds were diverted for 4 time by some very large bear signs 
in the sand, which we followed some distance, but unsuccess- 
fully. Some anecdotes related by the Indians of the instinct 
and sagacity of bears, were very interesting. They say the 
“animal invariably goes some distance with the wind, away 
from his first track, before making his bed to lie down— 
should an enemy now approach he is obliged to come with 
the wind, when the bear’s acute sense of smell warns him in 
time to make his escape. When pursued he will sometimes 
take refuge in a cave, and should the hunter endeavor by 
building a fire at the mouth to smoke him out, he not unfre- 
quently will advance, beat out the fire with his fore feet and 
then retreat into the cave. | 
Another anecdote, however, woutd seem to prove the bear 
correspondingly stupid. When the hunter cannot succeed 
in smoking him out, he sometimes descends into the cave 
with his rifle and a lighted torch. When the bear sees the 
light approaching he will sit upright upon his haunches, cover 
his face with his paws, and remain so until shot. 
The black bear is harmless, unless wounded or accompanied 
by its young, when it is very dangerous to attack it. 
I found a large species of wild gourd trailing on the ground, 
and very full of the vegetable, and caught a grasshopper as 
large as a good sized sparrow. 
We noticed that insect life was very sparse in this region, 
