A BEAR ON FIRE. 25

part of it all was to see such little crea-
tures as could not swim clinging all up
and down and not daring to take to the
water.

Unlike his domesticated brother, we saw
several wild-cats take to the water prompt-
ly. The wild-cat, you must know, has no
tail to speak of. But the panther and Cali-
fornian lion are well equipped in this re-
spect and abhor the water.

I constantly kept an eye over my shoul-
der at the ledge or little bluff of rocks, ex-
pecting to see a whole row of lions and
panthers sitting there, almost “cheek by
jowl” with my English friends, at any mo-
ment. But strangely enough, we saw
neither panther nor lion; nor did we see
a single grizzly among all the bears that
came that way.

We now noticed that one of the Indians
had become fascinated or charmed by look-
ing too intently at the enormous serpent in
our midst. The snake’s huge, coffin-shaped
head, as big as your open palm, was slowly