Returning from the Pribilofs Islands in the Bering Straits, and cruising along the south shore of the Alaska Peninsula, we met a patrol boat and one of the Federal fish and game wardens. "Why don't you go to the head of Seal Bay on the north side of Afognak if you want bears?" said he. "Last August we had a job there of blowing out some rocks at the falls so the salmon could get above to the spawning beds. We hired a man that reckoned he was an expert with blasting powder, put him ashore with provisions and helped him make camp by the falls a mile up the stream. We were to return in a week, but had a breakdown that kept us tied up at Kodiak, and it was nearly three weeks before we returned. The fellow was camped on the beach and walking the shore line when we came in sight, and he certainly was all 'het up.'
"'How can you expect a man to work at them falls!' he shouted as we approached the shore. 'This place is alive with bears, the kind that weigh a ton and eat men. They don't want any rocks blown out. They ganged upon me. I'm through.' And that's why the job ain't done yet," said the warden. "If you want bears, that's the place to go."
That day the whole coastline looked as if it were indented with bays. We saw many rocks that lifted their heads above tide line. Others were just on the surface, where the water whitened, and some must have been just below. But the Westward nosed her way around islands from bay to bay and safely dropped anchor toward evening in a place that answered the warden's description.
While some of the members of our party reconnoitered the river in a canoe, I wandered along the bank hatless and hunting wild flowers. Striking a trail, I pushed on through the grass and alder clumps to a place where the grass had been flattened down. Just beyond this the grass and sand had been scooped out, making a big, round bed, a comfortable place for a bear. Suddenly, a movement beyond attracted my attention and a big, shaggy, brown-face appeared through the leaves. I was face to face with the fellow I had been hunting for days and weeks. My camera was safe on board the yacht. I stood hatless and gunless with a little bouquet of flowers in my hand. In a flash it occurred to me that perhaps the little bouquet of flowers was singularly appropriate for my prompt demise, for an Alaska brown bear has a reputation for aggressiveness. For a moment we stood facing each other. Then perhaps the comeay of the situation appealed to the big fellow. He dropped down out of sight in the bushes, and I quickly dropped out of sight in the other direction.
About this Author
David is the author of many articles including Best Friend Quotes and also the author of Best life quotes
other articles:
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