288 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
with examining the mouth of the cave he is about to enter. 
Upon the signs there exhibited, he decides whether the Bear is 
alone; for if there are two the cave is never entered. The 
size of the Bear is also thus known, and the time since he was 
last in search of food. The way this knowledge is obtained, 
from indications so slight, or unseen to an ordinary eye, is one 
of the greatest mysteries of the woods. Placing ourselves at 
the mouth of the cave containing a Grizzly Bear, to our un¬ 
tutored senses there would be nothing to distinguish it from one 
that was empty; but if some Diana of the forest would touch 
our eyes, and give us the instinct of sight possessed by the 
hunter, we should argue this wise : ‘ From all the marks about 
the mouth of this cave, the occupant has not been out for a 
great length of time, for the grass and earth have not lately 
been disturbed. The Bear is in the cave, for the last tracks 
made are with the toe marks towards the cave. There is but 
one Bear, because the tracks are regular and of the same size. 
He is a large Bear ; the length of the step and the size of the 
paw indicate this; and he is a fat one, because his hind feet do 
not step in the impressions made by the fore ones , as is always the 
case with a lean Bear.’ 
“ Such are the signs and arguments that present themselves 
to the hunter; and mysterious as they seem when not under¬ 
stood, when explained they strike the imagination at once, as 
being founded on the unerring simplicity and truthfulness of 
nature itself. It may be asked, how is it that the Grizzly Bear 
is so formidable to numbers when met in the forest, and when 
in a cave can be assailed successfully by a single man In 
answer to this, we must recollect that the Bear is only attacked 
in his cave when he is in total darkness, and suffering from sur¬ 
prise and the torpidity of the season. These three things are in 
this method of hunting taken advantage of; and but for these 
advantages no quickness of eye, or steadiness of nerve, or forest 
experience, would protect for an instant the intruder to the cave 
of the Grizzly Bear. The hunter having satisfied himself about 
the cave, prepares a candle, which he makes out of the wax 
