experience with this formidable monarch of the mountains. It
is possible that if a man came suddenly upon the beast in a thicket,
where it could have no previous warning, he might be attacked; but it
is my opinion that if the bear gets _the wind_ or sight of a man at
any considerable distance, it will endeavor to get away as soon as
possible. I am so fully impressed with this idea that I shall hereafter
hunt bear with a feeling of as much security as I would have in hunting
the buffalo.

The grizzly, like the black bear, hybernates in winter, and makes his
appearance in the spring with his claws grown out long and very soft
and tender; he is then poor, and unfit for food.

I have heard a very curious fact stated by several old mountaineers
regarding the mountain bears, which, of course, I can not vouch for,
but it is given by them with great apparent sincerity and candor. They
assert that no instance has ever been known of a female bear having
been killed in a state of pregnancy. This singular fact in the history
of the animal seems most inexplicable to me, unless she remain
concealed in her brumal slumber until after she has been delivered of
her cubs.

I was told by an old Delaware Indian that when the bear has been
traveling against the wind and wishes to lie down, he always turns in
an opposite direction, and goes some distance away from his first track
before making his bed. If an enemy then comes upon his trail, his keen
sense of smell will apprise him of the danger. The same Indian
mentioned that when a bear had been pursued and sought shelter in a
cave, he had often endeavored to eject him with smoke, but that the
bear would advance to the mouth of the cave, where the fire was
burning, and put it out with his paws, then retreat into the cave
again. This would indicate that Bruin is endowed with some glimpses of
reason beyond the ordinary instincts of the brute creation in general,
and, indeed, is capable of discerning the connection between cause and
effect. Notwithstanding the extraordinary intelligence which this
quadruped exhibits upon some occasions, upon others he shows himself to
be one of the most stupid brutes imaginable. For example, when he has
taken possession of a cavern, and the courageous hunter enters with a
torch and rifle, it is said he will, instead of forcibly ejecting the
intruder, raise himself upon his haunches and cover his eyes with his
paws, so as to exclude the light, apparently thin