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Sierra Club Bulletm. 



were lacking in the original form, but in all other respects, even 

 as to type, binding and illustrations, a duplicate of the old. In 

 spite of the often revolting descriptions of wholesale carnage 

 among the wild animals so abundant in our mountains in early 

 times, Mr. Hittell has succeeded in giving us in Adams a picture 

 of a simple, sincere, lovable character, whose thirst for battle 

 could not always prevent his feeling moved at the spectacle of a 

 mother bear or panther playing with her young. His emotion 

 at this "interesting and beautiful sight," however, never appeared 

 to be strong enough to lead him to spare the happy family, for his 

 observations and cheerful moralizings inevitably ended in the 

 killing of the mother and the capture, slaughter, or maiming of 

 her young. The most interesting portions of the book are the 

 accounts of the taming and training of the grizzly bears, Lady 

 Washington and Ben Franklin, who became so devoted to the 

 hunter that they followed him like dogs, fought other bears for 

 him, slept with him, and even condescended to carry packs on 

 their shoulders. Mr. Hittell vouches for the truth of these state- 

 ments, having seen Adams many times with his bears in San 

 Francisco in 1856. Adams's wanderings extended from Washing- 

 ton to the Kern River, from the Sierra Nevada to the Rockies. 

 As he almost invariably was accompanied by a camp wagon, as 

 well as by his mules and bears, the traversing of this great 

 area of trackless wilderness and snowy mountain chains might 

 alone be considered worthy of a volume ; but Adams evidently 

 regards it as being all in the day's work. He was a dealer in 

 furs as well as a trapper, hunter, and trainer of bears. The 

 description of his caravan on a journey from Eastern Washing- 

 ton to Portland is both interesting and amusing. "There were 

 difficulties in putting the caravan in motion ; for of all hetero- 

 geneous compositions, it was one of the most curious. . . . There 

 were five horses packed with buffalo robes; next four horses 

 packed with bear skins ; then two packed with deer skins ; two 

 with antelope skins; seven with dried meat for the use of the 

 animals on the journey; one with boxes containing the young 

 bear cubs last caught; two with boxes containing wolves, un- 

 tamed ; a mule with foxes and fishers in baskets ; and a mule with 

 tools, blankets, and camp luggage. . . . But the most remarkable 

 portion of the train consisted of the animals which he drove 

 along in a small herd; these were six bears, four wolves, four 

 deer, four antelopes, two elks and the Indian dog." Altogether a 

 most fascinating book and one that should be especially popular 

 among CaHfornians. M. R. P. 



