THE DUSKY GROUSE. 141 
gladly welcomed, and as we had all the heavy game 
we wanted for that day, we decided to take what we had 
killed into camp. This was no easy work, as the bear 
weighed about three hundred pounds, and the stag did 
not weigh much less. We did manage to get them in, 
however, and deposited them in our store-room, which 
was simply a wickiup made of boughs. When they were 
skinned, the cook built fires in the two holes in the 
ground, and another near them, in which he placed 
several stones. 
When the wood was burned down, the coals were taken 
out of the holes with improvised tongs, made of two green 
sticks, and the red-hot stones were put in their places. 
The heads of the stag and doe, with the necks downward, 
were then laid in one hole, and a piece of the bear, 
wrapped in a deer skin, was put in the other, and all 
were covered with layers of hot stones and some grass, 
and, finally, with a coating of clay, which was packed so 
closely that no air could pass through it. This is the 
ordinary method of cooking the heads of animals in the 
Far West, and an excellent method it is, especially if 
they are not wanted for ten or twelve hours. While we 
were resting from the fatigue incident upon bringing the 
game into camp, we were visited by a band of Stehitswee 
Indians, who were going to another part of the lake for 
the purpose of hunting and fishing, and collecting some 
of the wild roots that grew along the Spokane River. 
The men seemed to be sturdy fellows, with rather agree- 
able features—for savages—but the women were anything 
but attractive, for they seemed a thoroughly degraded 
lot. We were much interested in a young squaw—who was 
rather obese—an unusual thing at her age—as she seemed 
to be proud of her proportions. The doctor was so amused 
with her that he said she reminded him of a fat heifer. 
‘Would you like to heifer for a wife?” asked Smith, 
in the most unsophisticated manner. 
