Indian Boyhood [14]
of the bill or their song or the appearance and locality of the nest--in fact, anything about the bird that impressed me as characteristic. I made many ridiculous errors, I must admit. He then usually informed me of the correct name. Occasionally I made a hit and this he would warm- ly commend.
He went much deeper into this science when I was a little older, that is, about the age of eight or nine years. He would say, for instance:
"How do you know that there are fish in yonder lake?"
"Because they jump out of the water for flies at mid-day."
He would smile at my prompt but superficial reply.
"What do you think of the little pebbles grouped together under the shallow water? and what made the pretty curved marks in the sandy bottom and the little sand-banks? Where do you find the fish-eating birds? Have the in- let and the outlet of a lake anything to do with the question?"
He did not expect a correct reply at once to all the voluminous questions that he put to me on these occasions, but he meant to make me observ- ant and a good student of nature.
"Hakadah," he would say to me, "you ought to follow the example of the shunktokecha (wolf). Even when he is surprised and runs for his life, he will pause to take one more look at you before he enters his final retreat. So you must take a sec- ond look at everything you see.
"It is better to view animals unobserved. I have been a witness to their courtships and their quarrels and have learned many of their secrets in this way. I was once the unseen spectator of a thrilling battle between a pair of grizzly bears and three buffaloes--a rash act for the bears, for it was in the moon of strawberries, when the buffaloes sharpen and polish their horns for bloody con- tests among themselves.
"I advise you, my boy, never to approach a grizzly's den from the front, but to steal up be- hind and throw your blanket or a stone in front of the hole. He does not usually rush for it, but first puts his head out and listens and then comes out very indifferently and sits on his haunches on the mound in front of the hole before he makes any attack. While he is exposing himself in this fashion, aim at his heart. Always be as cool as the animal himself." Thus he armed me against the cunning of savage beasts by teaching me how to outwit them.
"In hunting," he would resume, "you will be guided by the habits of the animal you seek. Re- member that a moose stays in swampy or low land or between high mountains near a spring or lake, for thirty to sixty days at a time. Most large game moves about continually, except the doe in the spring; it is then a very easy matter to find her with the fawn. Conceal yourself in a convenient place as soon as you observe any signs of the presence of either, and then call with your birchen doe-caller.
"Whichever one hears you first will soon appear in your neighborhood. But you must be very watchful, or you may be made a fawn of by a large wild-cat. They understand the characteristic call of the doe perfectly well.
"When you have any difficulty with a bear or a wild-cat--that is, if the creature shows signs of attacking you--you must make him fully under- stand that you have seen him and are aware of his intentions. If you are not well equipped for a pitched battle, the only way to make him retreat is to take a long sharp-pointed pole for a spear and rush toward him. No wild beast will face this un- less he is cornered and already wounded, These fierce beasts are generally afraid of the common weapon of the larger animals--the horns, and if these are very long and sharp, they dare not risk an open fight.
"There is one exception to this rule--the grey wolf will attack fiercely when very hungry. But their courage depends upon their numbers; in this they are like white men. One wolf or two will never attack a man. They will stampede a herd of buffaloes in order to get at the calves; they will rush upon a herd of antelopes, for these are help- less; but they are always careful about attacking man."
Of this nature
He went much deeper into this science when I was a little older, that is, about the age of eight or nine years. He would say, for instance:
"How do you know that there are fish in yonder lake?"
"Because they jump out of the water for flies at mid-day."
He would smile at my prompt but superficial reply.
"What do you think of the little pebbles grouped together under the shallow water? and what made the pretty curved marks in the sandy bottom and the little sand-banks? Where do you find the fish-eating birds? Have the in- let and the outlet of a lake anything to do with the question?"
He did not expect a correct reply at once to all the voluminous questions that he put to me on these occasions, but he meant to make me observ- ant and a good student of nature.
"Hakadah," he would say to me, "you ought to follow the example of the shunktokecha (wolf). Even when he is surprised and runs for his life, he will pause to take one more look at you before he enters his final retreat. So you must take a sec- ond look at everything you see.
"It is better to view animals unobserved. I have been a witness to their courtships and their quarrels and have learned many of their secrets in this way. I was once the unseen spectator of a thrilling battle between a pair of grizzly bears and three buffaloes--a rash act for the bears, for it was in the moon of strawberries, when the buffaloes sharpen and polish their horns for bloody con- tests among themselves.
"I advise you, my boy, never to approach a grizzly's den from the front, but to steal up be- hind and throw your blanket or a stone in front of the hole. He does not usually rush for it, but first puts his head out and listens and then comes out very indifferently and sits on his haunches on the mound in front of the hole before he makes any attack. While he is exposing himself in this fashion, aim at his heart. Always be as cool as the animal himself." Thus he armed me against the cunning of savage beasts by teaching me how to outwit them.
"In hunting," he would resume, "you will be guided by the habits of the animal you seek. Re- member that a moose stays in swampy or low land or between high mountains near a spring or lake, for thirty to sixty days at a time. Most large game moves about continually, except the doe in the spring; it is then a very easy matter to find her with the fawn. Conceal yourself in a convenient place as soon as you observe any signs of the presence of either, and then call with your birchen doe-caller.
"Whichever one hears you first will soon appear in your neighborhood. But you must be very watchful, or you may be made a fawn of by a large wild-cat. They understand the characteristic call of the doe perfectly well.
"When you have any difficulty with a bear or a wild-cat--that is, if the creature shows signs of attacking you--you must make him fully under- stand that you have seen him and are aware of his intentions. If you are not well equipped for a pitched battle, the only way to make him retreat is to take a long sharp-pointed pole for a spear and rush toward him. No wild beast will face this un- less he is cornered and already wounded, These fierce beasts are generally afraid of the common weapon of the larger animals--the horns, and if these are very long and sharp, they dare not risk an open fight.
"There is one exception to this rule--the grey wolf will attack fiercely when very hungry. But their courage depends upon their numbers; in this they are like white men. One wolf or two will never attack a man. They will stampede a herd of buffaloes in order to get at the calves; they will rush upon a herd of antelopes, for these are help- less; but they are always careful about attacking man."
Of this nature