with a loss of one or more of their party. Having no
weapons but bows and arrows, and the bad guns with
which the traders supply them, they are obliged to
approach very near to the bear; as no wound except
through the head or heart is mortal, they frequently fall
a sacrifice if they miss their aim. He rather attacks
than avoids a man, and such is the terror which he has
inspired, that the Indians who go in quest of him paint
themselves and perform all the superstitious rites cus-
tomary when they make war on a neighboring nation.
Hitherto, those bears we had seen did not appear de-
sirous of encountering us; but although to a skilful
rifleman the danger is very much diminished, yet the
white bear is still a terrible animal. On approaching
these two, both Captain Lewis and the hunter fired, and
each wounded a bear. One of them made his escape;
the other turned upon Captain Lewis and pursued him
seventy or eighty yards, but being badly wounded the
bear could not run so fast as to prevent him from reload-
ing his piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third
shot from the hunter brought him to the ground. He
was a male, not quite full grown, and weighed about
three hundred pounds. The legs are somewhat longer
than those of the black bear, and the talons and tusks
much larger and longer. Its color is a yellowish-brown;
the eyes are small, black, and piercing; the front of the
fore legs near the feet is usually black, and the fur is
finer, thicker, and deeper than that of the black bear.
Add to which, it is a more furious animal, and very
remarkable for the wounds which it will bear without
dying."

Next day, the hunter killed the largest elk which they
had ever seen. It stood five feet three inches high from

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