ty.

"Dick and I headed the canoe, now half full of water, for the opposite
bank, which we contrived to reach by using the rifle and our hands for
paddles. Here we made the little vessel fast to a tree, intending to
leave it there, as we could not by any possibility get it back over the
fall. Having hung our game out of reach of the wolves, we turned our
faces up-stream, and, after a long and wearisome walk, succeeded in
getting back to the post.

"Next morning, a party went down for the venison, with the intention
also of carrying the canoe back over the fall. The craft, however, was
found to be so much injured, that it would not hang together during the
portage, and was therefore abandoned. This was no pleasant matter to
me, for it afterwards cost me a considerable sum before I could square
with the old Flathead for his worthless dug-out."

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

OLD IKE AND THE GRIZZLY.

A--'s adventure ending in a grizzly bear story, drew the conversation
upon that celebrated animal, and we listened to the many curious facts
related about it, with more than usual interest.

The grizzly bear (_Ursus ferox_) is, beyond all question, the most
formidable of the wild creatures inhabiting the continent of America--
jaguar and cougar not excepted. Did he possess the swiftness of foot of
either the lion or tiger of the Old World, he would be an assailant as
dangerous as either; for he is endowed with the strength of the former,
and quite equals the latter in ferocity. Fortunately, the horse outruns
him; were it not so, many a human victim would be his, for he can easily
overtake a man on foot. As it is, hundreds of well-authenticated
stories attest the prowess of this fierce creature. There is not a
"mountain-man" in America who cannot relate a string of perilous
adventures about the "grizzly bar;" and the instances are far from being
few, in which human life has been sacrificed in conflicts with this
savage beast.

The grizzly bear is an animal of large dimensions; specimens have been
killed and measured quite equal to the largest size of the polar bear,
though there is much variety in the sizes of different individuals.
About 500 pounds might be taken as the average weight.

In shape, the grizzly bear is a much more compact animal than either the
black or polar species: his ears are larger, his arms stouter, and his
aspect fiercer. His teeth are sharp and strong; but that which his
enemies most dread