212 



RECREATION 



capped mountains, turning them a beau- 

 tiful rose color, which is reflected on 

 the glassy surface of the deep bays. 



In one of these fjords we pitched 

 our first hunting camp. All about us 

 great plains rolled up to the snow- 

 splashed foot-hills. Far at sea some 

 walrus islands blurred the horizon, and 

 on a peninsula near by the steam from 

 a hot spring drifted lazily against the 

 sky. 



It was a peaceful background for a 

 bear killing, but our first hunt was 

 successful. 



John Hubley, a broad-shouldered 

 Russian boy, and I left camp early one 

 morning. As the mountains were 

 wrapped in fog we hunted the "flats." 

 We were unsuccessful, and turned 

 campwards, after hunting about ten 

 miles. By this time the clouds had 

 drifted from the foot-hills, and we 

 could see great snowfields fading into 

 the mist, and canons streaked with 

 white where the glacial streams broke 

 into foam. 



As yet we had seen no fresh bear 

 sign, but at every step we saw evidence 

 of their presence. At times we followed 

 the great double bear trails, as they 

 wound among the alder thickets, and 

 skirted the salmon rivers. The brown 

 bears are enthusiastic fishermen, and 

 occasional piles of salmon bones bore 

 witness to their skill. 



Finally, as we entered an open, three 

 fat, two-year-old bull caribou crossed 

 ahead of us. They were traveling at 

 a brisk walk towards the mountains, 

 and, as we wanted meat, we followed 

 them. 



They soon left us far behind, but, as 

 the country was hilly, we could see 

 their white rumps rising and falling 

 among the knolls. 



When they reached the foothills they 

 lay down on a bald hillside, and we be- 

 gan our stalk. At last we topped the 

 hill and looked carefully over ; they had 

 gone, but the grass was still rising in 

 their beds. The only cover near by 

 was a deep canon, so we walked slowly 

 toward it. Suddenlv, as we entered a 



thicket at the canon mouth, I saw Hub- 

 ley's figure stiffen, and he sank slowly 

 to the ground. As we saw caribou 

 every day, and looked on them merely 

 as meat, I knew at once that he had 

 seen a bear, so I dropped to the ground 

 and crawled slowly toward him. 

 . "Bear!" he said, when I reached him. 

 "Three of 'em !" And we gently parted 

 the bushes and looked up the canon. 



The sight was one to stir a hunter's 

 blood. Above us were grand freshly 

 snowed mountains, and the wild canon 

 choked with a wildness of tangled 

 alders. Two hundred yards away the 

 brush stopped ; beyond, naked canon 

 walls rose to the sky, and a glaeial stream 

 snarled down from the distant ice fields. 



On a little hill placed like a throne 

 in that wild kingdom, sat the monarch 

 of the world's flesh-eating beasts. The 

 bear was a large "cow," and nearby, al- 

 ternately rolling down and scampering 

 up the little knoll, were two fat merri- 

 ami bear cubs. High upon the mountain 

 side, lazily crossing a snow patch, were 

 the three caribou we had pursued, and 

 above the noise of falling water rose 

 the cackling of ptarmigans. We were 

 in a hunter's paradise, and the chance 

 we had longed for since crossing the 

 mountains had come. 



We made our plans quickly. The 

 bears were down wind, and there was 

 no cover on our side of the canon, so 

 we made a long detour and came out on 

 the mountain side above her. Only 

 once during the stalk did we see her ; 

 she was chasing an unruly cub. A great, 

 powerful arm shot out, the cub rolled 

 head over heels into an alder patch, 

 and a pitiful squeal echoed down the 

 canon. 



When we finally reached a bench 

 from which we could look into the val- 

 ley the bear and cubs had disappeared. 

 Our hearts sank into our shoe-packs, 

 for we thought she had heard or wind- 

 ed us. But as we studied the thickets 

 below us, with their masses of dead 

 limbs and dry grass, hope returned, and 

 we decided that somewhere down in the 

 brush our bears were sleeping. 



