370 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
very much larger than the paws of the bear that I 
have described. 
The foot of a bear leaves a print very similar to 
that of a human being who happens to be flat- 
footed, but the breadth is larger in proportion to 
that of a man. It is a curious fact, that a shot 
through the kidneys of any creature occasions 
almost instantaneous death, and the animal falls 
immediately, as though shot through the neck ; this 
proves the terrible shock to the system, as the body 
is smitten with a total paralysis. 
The opinions of professional hunters differ in 
such an extraordinary manner upon the question of 
bears, that it would be impossible for a mere visitor 
to arrive at a satisfactory decision. It is admitted 
by all that the grizzly bear is the monarch ; next to 
him in size is the cinnamon bear, named from the 
colour of its fur; No. 3 is the silver-tipped ; and 
No. 4 is the black bear. 
The question to be decided remains : “Is the 
cinnamon bear the grizzly, with some local difference 
in colour ?” My people called the silver-tipped 
bears “grizzlies,” which was an evident absurdity; 
but, as they were men experienced in the Big 
Horn range, it was difficult to disbelieve their 
evidence concerning the occasional presence of a 
true grizzly. I found, whilst riding through 
an extensive forest of spruce fir, an enormous 
skull of a bear, the largest that I have ever 
seen, except that of the grizzly, compared with 
which all others were mere babies; what could 
