14 
NATURK STUDY. 
where I live, but there is going to be a council here and 
we will .see what the}^ do.” They went in, and the hole 
widened as they went, until they came to a large cave like 
a townhonse. It was lull of beans—old bears, young 
bears, and cubs, white bears, black bears, and brown 
beans—and a large white bear was the chief. They sat 
down in a corner, but soon the bears scented the hunter 
and began to ask, ” What is it that smells bad? ” The 
chief said, “Don’t talk .so; it is only a stranger come to 
see ns. Let him alone.” Food was getting scarce in the 
mountains, and the council was to decide what to do about 
it. They had sent me.ssengers all over, and while they 
were talking two bears came in and reported that they had 
found a country in the low grounds where there were so 
many che.stnnts and acorns that nia.st was knee deep. 
Then they were all pleased, and got ready for a dance, 
and the dance leader was the one the Indians call Kalas- 
gnnahita, “Tong Hams,” a great black bear that is al¬ 
ways lean. After the dance the bears noticed the hunter’s 
bows and arrows, and one said, “This is what men use to 
kill ns. Tet ns see if we can manage them, and may be 
we can fight man with his own weapons.” vSo they took 
the bow and arrows from the hunter to try them. They 
fitted the arrow and drew back the string, but when they 
let go it caught in their long claws and the arrows 
dropped to the ground. They saw that they could not 
use the bows and arrows and gave them back to the man. 
When the dance and the council were over, they began to 
go home, excepting the White Bear chief, who lived there, 
and at last the hunter and the bear went out together. 
They went on until they came to another hole in the side 
of the mountain, when the bear said, “This is where I 
live,” and they went in. By this time the hunter was 
very hungry and was wondering how he could get .some¬ 
thing to eat. The other knew his thoughts, and sitting 
