AN UNEXPECTED BEAR
By eight o'clock the next morning the party had embarked on the tiny
steamer "Senator" on their way up Burrard Inlet. The little craft
carried them swiftly along past the Indian village on the north bank,
past wooded hills and low grassy points, past rough granite mountain
faces, where the few scattering trees found scarcely earth enough to
support them, and were forced to drive their roots deep down into
the crevices of the rocks, until, six miles above Hastings, the boat
turned sharply to the left and up the North Arm of the inlet. Here
the hills on either side were nearer together and appeared higher and
more rugged. Their summits were capped with snow, which, in many of
the gorges and ravines, extended far down toward the water's edge.
The steep rock faces were covered with a harsh brown moss, which,
except when wet, gave an excellent foothold to the climber. Where the
mountains were not too steep, and soil was not utterly wanting, there
was a dense forest of Douglas firs and cedars, some of the timber being
very large. The various shades of green of the different trees gave a
variety to the aspect of the forest, as a whole, which had almost the
effect of cloud shadows, and added greatly to the beauty of the scene.
Jack and Hugh did not weary in watching the constantly changing view.
Now and then the round head of a seal emerged from the quiet waters,
looked for a moment at the boat and then disappeared. Little groups of
water birds, disturbed in their fishing or their resting, rose on wing
and flew up or down the inlet. From the shores and mountains on either
side, birds, large and small, were constantly flying across the inlet;
and now and then a great fish sprang from the water, and fell back with
a splash which could be heard.
"I tell you, Hugh," said Jack, "we'll have things enough to talk about
if we ever get back to the ranch and tell the cow-punchers there what
we have seen on this trip."
"You're dead right, son; they never imagined anything like this any
more than I ever did; and what's more, we won't be able to tell it to
them so that they can understand what it is like. That's the worst of
going off and seeing things,--that when you go back you can't make
other people see as you saw, or have the same feelings that you had
when you took them in with your eyes."
"Yes," said Jack, "talk is a pretty poor thing compared with seeing
anything for yourself."
"Now, look at those waterfalls!" said Hugh. "Do you suppose it would be
possible to tell anybody about those things so that they could really
understand how they look?"
"No," said Jack, "I do not believe anybody could do that."
Down almost every slope within their view, and constantly changing
as the boat's position changed, poured beautiful cascades, some of
which deserved the title of waterfall. Though now they carried but
little water, their wide beds of naked rock showed that in the spring
and early summer, when the snows were melting, they must be mighty
torrents, sweeping everything before them with resistless power. Even
now they were very beautiful, and their delicate streams, stretching
like white threads far up the mountain sides, could scarcely be
distinguished in the distance from the lines of snow in the ravines;
though, with the glasses, the leaping, wavering motion of the water
could be discerned which distinguished the white hurrying flood from
the unmoving snowdrift.
They had passed up the Arm and were just rounding a little point and
beginning to get a view of some low grassy meadows running up from the
water's edge, when Hugh suddenly said to Jack: "Son, I believe that's a
bear in that grass"; and Jack, bringing his eyes down to the meadow's
level, saw a small black object moving about in the grass. Whatever it
was, it had not yet seen the steamer. Jack rushed into the cabin where
Fannin and Mr. James were talking to the Indian Seammux and, grasping
his rifle, said: "Mr. Fannin, I believe there is a bear out on the
shore." In a moment all were looking at the animal, and there was now
no doubt as to what it was. Fannin stepped around to the pilot house
and asked the captain to steer close to the shore, and also to see that
the boat made as little noise as possible. They rapidly crept up toward
the bear; but long before they had come within rifle-shot the animal
saw them, stood up, looked for a moment or two, and then, turning
about, bolted through the grass and disappeared in the forest.
"Well," said Jack to Mr. Fannin, "that beats anything yet. I believe if
anybody had been in a canoe and paddled along quietly, that bear would
never have noticed him, and he might have got within gunshot."
"Yes," said Mr. Fannin, "of course he might. That's just what I've told
you. It's quite possible that you will see something of that kind more
than once before you get back."
About twelve miles from where the North Arm leaves the main inlet,
the Arm ends in the narrow valley of the Salmon River. Here the boat
anchored, and here, after some little discussion, it was determined
that Jack, Mr. Fannin, and the Indian should take the latter's canoe
and go a short distance up the river to see whether a glimpse might not
be had of the goats that dwelt on the summit of the mountains on the
west side.
In the meantime Mr. James jointed his rod and set out to try to catch
some trout; while Hugh said that he would go with Mr. James and watch
the fishing.
The Indian's canoe was light, low, and slender, and when its three
occupants were seated it was low in the water. Mr. Fannin had with him
his rifle and his shot-gun; the rifle, perhaps, being carried out of
compliment to Jack, while the shot-gun was his constant companion, for
he never knew at what moment he might not see some strange bird.
They had gone but a short distance up the river when it became
necessary for Mr. Fannin and Jack to land and walk along the gravel
bars, for the water in the rapids was so shoal that the loaded canoe
could not ascend. When the swift water was reached, the Indian laid
down his paddle, took up his pole, and, standing in the stern of the
canoe, prepared to drive the craft up the stream against the turbulent
current. Quietly pushing it along until he had almost reached the
rushing water, he set his pole firmly against the bottom, and leaning
back against it, sent the light craft fifteen or twenty feet up the
stream, and then, before its way had ceased, recovered his pole and
again set it against the stones of the bottom. Standing as he did in
the stern, the nose of the canoe rose high above the water; and, as it
rushed forward, reminded Jack of the head of some sea monster, whose
lower jaw was buried beneath the surface. No matter how furiously the
water rushed, boiled, and bubbled on either side, the light craft held
perfectly straight, moved regularly forward until, when the rapids had
been passed, Fannin and Jack stepped aboard once more and the paddles
were resumed, only to be laid aside for the pole when another rapid was
reached.
Here Jack saw, and was delighted to see, some familiar friends of the
Rocky Mountains,--the little dippers or water ouzels. On every little
stretch of still water one or more would be started, flying from rock
to rock and bobbing comically at each point where they alighted. Many
of the birds were young ones, not long from the nest, and were quite
without fear, permitting a very close approach before they would fly.
A number of broods of harlequin ducks were startled, some of them
quite large and able to fly, while others seemed to be newly hatched.
Whatever their age, they seemed well able to take care of themselves,
and could always keep ahead of the canoe until at last they disappeared
from sight around some bend and were not seen again. Everywhere along
the stream grew the salmon berry bushes, laden with mature or ripening
fruit. The bushes, in their manner of growth and in their berries,
reminded Jack of the eastern blackberries, but the ripe fruit was
either red or yellow or black, all these colors growing on the same
bush.
As they passed on up the stream, the white men sometimes on the gravel
bar and again in the canoe, they saw no other animal life except the
ravens and eagles, which now and then flew over them, going up and
down the valley. At one point were tracks where a bear had crossed the
stream, and at another some old deer tracks.
At length, about two miles from the mouth of the river, on a long
gravel bar, where the river was wide and a good view could be had of
the summits of the mountains, they landed to try to see some white
goats. The guns, which had been lying in the canoe, were wet from the
water which had been shipped in the passage up the rapids, and Jack and
Mr. Fannin took them out to dry. Mr. Fannin held his down to drain
and then set them up against a pile of driftwood to dry. Jack wiped
the water from his rifle as well as he could, and walked along with it
in his hand. The three had gone about forty yards from the canoe when
Mr. Fannin and the Indian stopped and began carefully to look over the
hills above them. Jack looked too, but saw nothing and walked on toward
the upper end of the bar, where there was a huge drift-log, which he
mounted to get a wider view. As he did so he looked back at the others
and saw Seammux suddenly point across the river and speak eagerly to
his companion. At the same time Mr. Fannin turned toward Jack and
beckoned with his hand. Jack thought that possibly a deer had shown
itself in the brush and jumped from his perch on the log to run toward
the others. The stones under his feet seemed to make a tremendously
loud clatter as he ran; and, forgetting that the roar of the water
would drown any noise that he might make, he feared that the game,
whatever it might be, would hear him and run off into the brush.
He was still fifty yards from the other two when Fannin again turned
toward him and raised his hand with a warning gesture. Just as he did
so there walked out from behind a bush into Jack's view a good-sized
bear. As he started to run Jack had slipped a cartridge into his
rifle, and, as soon as the animal appeared, he dropped on one knee
and prepared to fire. The bear, however, was quite unconscious of the
presence of man, and Jack waited for a moment in the hope that the
animal would stand still; for, with two persons looking on, he was
anxious not to miss. The bear was about one hundred yards off, and
there would be no excuse for a failure. It was gathering berries, and
its attention was concentrated on that occupation. Where the fruit
hung low the bear reached up its head like a cow picking apples from
a tree, and, winding its long tongue about the stem, stripped the
berries and leaves from it. Again it would stand up on its hind legs
and, reaching the high branches with its forepaws, pull them down
within reach of its mouth. Two or three times Jack was on the point of
pulling the trigger, but he waited for a better opportunity, which came
at last. The bear dropped on all fours and for an instant stood still,
with head slightly raised, facing Jack, who fired at the white spot on
the beast's breast. Just as the trigger was pulled the bear began to
rear up for some berries; but, at the crack of the rifle, he whirled
about and lumbered off into the brush. A moment later Jack had run up
to Mr. Fannin and asked: "Did I hit him?" Neither could tell, and Mr.
Fannin sent Seammux to bring the canoe up to where they were standing,
so that they might cross over to look for the trail.
[Illustration: JACK FIRED AT THE WHITE SPOT ON THE BEAST'S
BREAST--_Page 59_]
In a few moments the canoe came up, and in a moment more they had
crossed over and reached the opposite bank. Mr. Fannin and Jack climbed
up the steep bank and ran to the point where the bear had disappeared,
while Seammux, taking time only to secure the canoe, followed. They had
not gone two yards into the bushes when Jack saw a broad leaf covered
with blood, and then thick drops--a plain trail running into the
timber. By this time Seammux was with them, and they pressed forward on
the trail. Once they overran it for a moment, but a low call from the
Indian told them that he had found it; and, as they overtook him, he
stopped with an exclamation, and pointed. There, a few yards away, lay
the bear curled up on his side, his paws over his nose. They looked for
a moment, but he did not move, and then, holding his gun in readiness,
Jack walked around behind and gave the back a sharp push. The animal
was quite dead, the ball having pierced the white spot and gone through
the vitals.
Though it looked much smaller dead than it had when living, and though
the distance to the river bank was short, it took some time to drag the
bear out to the river, and then to lower it into the canoe.
A little more time was devoted to studying the tops of the mountains
for goats; then, as the sun was getting low, they stepped into the
canoe, turned the vessel's prow down stream, and were soon hurrying
merrily along over the dancing waters toward the river's mouth.
Jack, to whom this method of journeying was new, found it very
exhilarating to fly down the rapids, dashing by the bank at almost
railroad speed, the Indian now and then giving a stroke of the paddle
to keep the canoe straight, or sometimes to alter her course when
a threatening rock appeared above the water. The rapids, that had
been surmounted with much difficulty on the way up the stream, now
disappeared behind them almost as soon as they were reached. It took
but a short time to gain the mouth of the river, and the canoe was soon
alongside the steamer.
There everything was ready for a start. The bear in the canoe gave
those on the steamer a surprise, and they were much gratified at the
success of the short excursion.
Just as the steamer was about to start, Seammux spoke and pointed
toward the top of one of the mountains on the north side of the Arm,
where two very minute white spots were seen on the mountain top. When
the glasses had been brought to bear and the specks had been watched
for some little time, it appeared quite certain that they were white
goats. Although they were so distant that no motion could be detected,
it soon became apparent that these white specks gradually changed their
positions, both with regard to each other and to surrounding objects.
The day was too far spent to allow any further investigation of them
to be made, but as the boat started on its way down the North Arm, Mr.
Fannin assured Jack that at last he had seen a couple of white goats.
"If you want to see these animals at home," said Mr. Fannin, "the best
thing we can do is to come back here and climb those mountains to where
they live, and then we can see them and very likely get one or two. You
are in no great hurry, I fancy, and you would not mind spending a day
or two in camping on the top of these hills. We'll think it over and
make up our minds about it to-night or to-morrow."
"Nothing would suit me better than just such a trip as you suggest, Mr.
Fannin, and we can talk it over and decide about it to-night, as you
say."
If it had been pleasant coming up the Arm and the inlet, it was not
less so on the way down. The bird life was as abundant as it had been
in the morning. Jack and Mr. Fannin went to the bow and watched the
creatures busy at their feeding.
"Tell me something about that black bird with the white shoulders, Mr.
Fannin. I suppose it is one of the guillemots, is it not?" asked Jack.
"Yes. That's the pigeon guillemot," said Mr. Fannin; "a very abundant
bird here, found everywhere on the salt water. It's more plentiful in
the Gulf of Georgia than it is up here in the inlet, but it's plenty
enough everywhere. They breed on many of the islands, rearing their
young in the rocks. They are industrious little birds, as you see, and
are constantly diving for food. They eat a crustacean which looks to me
a good deal like the crawfish that I used to see back East; and if you
watch, you will see that many of these birds which fly by the vessel
are carrying this crustacean in their bills. That means, I suppose,
that by this time of the year the young are getting big enough to help
themselves. I believe that when they are very young, though, the old
ones swallow the food, which, after it has been partly digested, is
disgorged into the mouths of the young ones."
"There seem to be some ducks over there near the shore, can you tell
what those are at this distance, Mr. Fannin?" asked Jack.
Mr. Fannin looked through the glasses and then replied: "Yes, those
are harlequin ducks. Take the glasses and look at them. Their plumage
is easily recognized even at this distance. They breed here on the
islands, I am told, though I have never found a nest. The Indians say
that they are very much more abundant on the river than they are down
here on the salt water. I have never seen a nest, and don't even know
where they breed, whether in the grass, or in holes in the rocks, or in
the trees. Of course, you know that there are some ducks that build in
the holes in the trees?"
"Oh, yes," replied Jack. "Quite a number of them, though I have never
found a duck's nest in a tree; and I feel that I should be a good deal
surprised if I did find one."
All along the inlet eagles, ospreys, and crows fairly swarmed, brought
there by the abundance of the fish, which offer food to all of them.
Salmon and many other sorts of good fish run up the Arm, while the
dog-fish--a small shark--is everywhere. There is no reason why a
fish-eating bird should starve here; and, besides the fish, the crows
and ravens find abundant food along the shore in the various sorts of
shell-fish that are everywhere abundant.
A little later, as the two were sitting on the deck in front of the
pilot house, enjoying the warm sun, the Indian Seammux came up, and,
squatting down beside them, began to talk in Chinook to Mr. Fannin.
After he had spoken for a few moments Mr. Fannin answered him, and,
turning to Jack, said: "Here is something that maybe will interest
you. Seammux is telling me a story about a selallicum that used to live
in the North Arm of the inlet, and in old times killed many Indians.
This monster must have been of great size. It was peculiar in form,
too, being shaped like two fishes, whose bodies were joined together
at the tail. It used to lie stretched across the mouth of the North
Arm, just beneath the surface of the water, one of its heads reaching
across to the other shore. Whenever a canoe attempted to pass up the
Arm, the monster would wait until the vessel was directly over its body
and then would rise to the surface and upset the canoe, and devour the
occupants. That is all that he has told me so far."
He spoke to Seammux, who replied at considerable length, and Mr. Fannin
interpreted again. "'In this way,' he says, 'the monster killed many
Indians, for the North Arm was a great hunting place, and fish and
game and berries abounded along the river, so that the people had to
go there to get them for food. At last, the loss of life caused by the
monster became so terrible, that the Squamisht Indians had lost nearly
half their people; and now no one dared to go up the Arm, so that the
people feared that they would starve.'
"'In one of the villages there was a young man who had seen the
misfortune of his people and pitied them. He felt so sorry for them
that he at last determined that he would sacrifice himself for his
race by killing this monster, even though it cost him his life. One
day he went to his family and bade them good-by, saying that he was
going away and should not be back for a long time. That day he went
into the mountains and did not return again. In the mountains he fasted
for many days, and prayed to the spirits, and at length one night when
he was getting very weak, he dreamed that a large white goat stood
near him as he slept and spoke to him, for a long time, telling him
to take courage and advising him what he should do. The next day the
young man went farther into the mountains and gathered certain roots
and herbs, and after he had dried them and pounded them into powder, he
mixed them with some sacred oil, and rubbed the mixture over his whole
body, leaving no part of his skin untouched. Then he walked down the
mountains to the shore of the inlet, and dived into the water. For five
years he lived in the water, scarcely ever coming out on shore; and in
all these five years he never spoke to a man. He became so much at home
in the water that he could swim faster than a seal or a salmon, and at
the end of that time his spiritual power was so strong that he could
call up to him the fishes or the seals and lift them into the canoe.
"'Now he was ready to fight the monster. He took with him two spears,
one in each hand; swam to the mouth of the North Arm, dived under the
monster, and thrust the spears into it. Then there was a fierce and
terrible fight; but at length the battle ended, and the monster was
dead. The young man was badly wounded, and expected to die. He floated
on the surface of the water, like a dead salmon. As he lay there on the
water, he heard the sound of a paddle, and soon a canoe came by him,
and in the canoe sat his brother. The two recognized each other, and
the brother lifted the wounded man into the canoe and took him to the
shore. The wounded man said to him: "My brother, take me up into the
mountains and gather there certain roots and herbs. These you must dry
and then cook a little. Then pound them into a fine powder, mix them
with oil of the medicine-fish, and rub this oil all over me, leaving
no part of my body untouched." The brother did so, and immediately the
young man rose from the ground, and walked about, sound and whole.
Then the two brothers walked home to the village, and since that time,
the monster has not been seen on the North Arm.'"
"That's a good story, Mr. Fannin, a bully story," said Jack. "I wish,
though, that I knew enough about the language to get along without an
interpreter."
"Why, if you are willing to give a little attention and thought to
the matter, you can learn this Chinook jargon easily enough. There is
no grammar to bother you, and I am sure that you will pick it up very
quickly."
"I must try and do so," replied Jack, "if I am going to stay in this
country."
That night a council was held in Mr. Fannin's shop, and the plans
of the two Americans were discussed at length. After a good deal of
talking, Mr. Fannin agreed to accompany them on their canoe trip. He
would go back with them to Victoria when they were ready, and prepare
for the voyage. All hands were gratified at this decision.
"But now," said Fannin, "before you leave here, I think that you had
better go up to the head of the North Arm and make a hunt there for
goats. Of course, there's a probability that you may have plenty of
hunting, on the trip, and there is also a probability that you may
have no hunting at all. We may have good weather and favorable winds,
in which case everything will run as smoothly as possible. We may have
almost continuous rains, and head winds, and in that case we shall have
to work very hard at the paddles all day long, to make any progress at
all. I am like most other people. I always think that any short trip
that I am going to take will turn out well--a good deal better than
I had anticipated; but I have travelled in canoes so much about the
shores of this Province, that I know perfectly well that we shall meet
with many difficulties and delays. I do not look for any danger.
"If you feel like making a hunt here I will get Seammux and another
Indian and two canoes, and we can go up the Arm, to where we were
to-day, climb the mountains, camp there for a couple of nights, have a
hunt, come back here, take the stage for Westminster, and from there go
to Victoria. By doing this, as I said before, you will be sure of at
least one hunt. On the trip you will be pretty sure to kill something,
perhaps enough to satisfy you as to white goats. What do you say?"
"Well, sir," said Hugh, "I am getting to be a little old to climb
mountains, but at the same time I should like to go up to the top of
those that we saw to-day. I don't care so much about the hunting, but
I would like to go up where I could see off a little way. Almost ever
since I left the ranch we've been in the timber, or else in big towns,
shut in so that I haven't had any chance to use my eyes. I'm not used
to that, and I would like to have a big view once more. What do you
say, son?" he added, turning to Jack.
"Tell me, Mr. Fannin," said Jack, "what game will we be likely to see
on top of those mountains?"
"Well," said Fannin, "I never have hunted there. I can only tell you
what the Indians say. They report goats as plenty. They say that there
are some bears; and they describe good-sized birds, which I think must
be ptarmigan. At all events they speak of them as birds about as big
as the grouse we have down here, but as turning white in winter. This
of course fits the ptarmigan. I don't know whether they are the willow
ptarmigan or the white-tail ptarmigan. I should be delighted if they
proved to be the latter. Besides that, there may be all sorts of rare
northern birds up there. You see, it's pretty high up, quite above the
timber line, according to what the Indians tell."
"Well," said Jack, "that sounds mighty nice, and I vote in favor of
going, if Hugh thinks best."
"I say 'go'" said Hugh. "Now what does Mr. James say?" he added,
turning to the latter gentleman who sat silent, smoking his pipe.
"Mr. James says," said that gentleman, "that he wishes with all
his heart that he could go with you, and was not obliged to return
to-morrow to New Westminster. By bad luck I have business there which
cannot be put off; and so, I must return on the stage. You others had
better stay here and make your hunt, and then when you come back you
can tell me about it."
So it was decided. The next morning Mr. James took the stage for
town, while Fannin, Hugh, and Jack began to get Indians, canoes, and
provisions together, for their camping trip in the mountains.