AMONG THE ANIMALS OF THE YOSEMITE 177 



run, lest he should be encouraged to pursue me ; 

 therefore I held my ground, staring him in the 

 face within a dozen yards or so, putting on as 

 bold a look as I could, and hoping the influence 

 of the human eye would be as great as it is said 

 to be. Under these strained relations the inter- 

 view seemed to last a long time. Finally, the bear, 

 seeing how still I was, calmly withdrew his huge 

 paws from the log, gave me a piercing look, as if 

 warning me not to follow him, turned, and walked 

 slowly up the middle of the meadow into the for- 

 est ; stopping every few steps and looking back 

 to make sure that I was not trying to take him 

 at a disadvantage in a rear attack. I was glad 

 to part with him, and greatly enjoyed the van- 

 ishing view as he waded through the lilies and 

 columbines. 



Thenceforth I always tried to give bears re- 

 spectful notice of my approach, and they usu- 

 ally kept well out of my way. Though they 

 often came around my camp in the night, only 

 once afterward, as far as I know, was I very 

 near one of them in daylight. This time it was 

 a grizzly I met ; and as luck would have it, I 

 was even nearer to him than I had been to the 

 big cinnamon. Though not a large specimen, 

 he seemed formidable enough at a distance of 

 less than a dozen yards. His shaggy coat was 

 well grizzled, his head almost white. When I 

 first caught sight of him he was eating acorns 



