384 
IVILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
he exclaimed, “you shouldn’t run forward when 
you hear the rush of a bear, but jump on one side, 
as I did. Supposing that bear had come straight 
at you ; why, he’d a been on the top of you before 
you could have got your rifle up. True, you’ve got 
a double-barrel, but that’s not my way of shooting 
bears, although that’s the way to jump a bear, 
which you’ve seen now, and you may jump a good 
m.any before you get a shot in this kind of stuff.” 
I could not induce Bob to take any further 
trouble in pursuit, as he assured me that it would be 
to no purpose : the bear when thus disturbed would 
go straight away, and might not halt for several 
miles. 
This was a disappointment; we therefore sought 
our horses, which we found quietly grazing in the 
place that we expected. Remounting, we rode 
slowly through the great mass of spruce firs, which 
I had named the “ lo mile forest.” 
There was very little underwood beyond a few 
young spruce here and there, and we could see 
from 8o to lOO yards in every direction. Presently 
we came across an enormous skull, which Bob 
immediately examined, and handed it to me, 
suggesting that I should preserve it as a specimen. 
He declared this to be the skull of a true grizzly ; 
but some^ of the teeth were missing, and as I seldom 
collect anything that I have not myself shot or 
taken a part in shooting, I declined the head, 
although it was double the size of anything I had 
experienced. 
