211 



carrying only a single-barrelled gan, I considered it the 

 safest plan to follow their example; particularly as there are 

 generally two or more of these creatures in company. I 

 therefore contented myself with procuring two fine specimens 

 01 their heads, my means of conveyance being altogether 

 inadequate to the carrying a whole skin ; but I was so un- 

 lucky as to lose one of these heads, which a Wolverine 

 carried away while it was drying. The flesh is very bad 

 eatmg, the very dogs refusing to touch it. Their food con- 

 sists of flesh, berries, and roots: the berries of the Hippophae 



L 



canademis have a very obvious effect upon them, acting as a 

 strong cathartic. They lie dormant for a few months in the 

 depth of winter, and when they retire to their hiding-places, 

 generally under a fallen tree, or some similar situation, they 

 are extremely fat, and even when they first sally out, are in 

 good condition, which, however, they soon lose, I saw 

 several miserable objects, (proofs of their prowess,) at the 

 various establishments of the Company, but as I have already 

 (detailed the particulars to Dr. Richardson, it will be un- 

 y»ecessary here to repeat them. The Black Bear is also an 

 inhabitant of these mountains, but it is a much less for- 



e animal than the grisly bear. These are likewise 

 subject to great variety of colour, and I have seen the skin of 

 one nearly white, at least cream coloured; there is also a 

 kind with a reddish snout, which the hunters consider the 

 most ferocious, but they seldom or ever attack man, unless 

 wounded, or when defending their young. Their food ap- 

 pears to consist principally of roots, and their flesh is 

 tolerably good food, as I often had occasion to experience, 

 the paws being considered a great delicacy by the Indians, 

 who hunt them with avidity, while they are in great fear of 

 the grisly bear. The description of them in Lewis and 

 Clark's Travels, appears rather overcharged; but perhaps 

 they are more ferocious on the Missouri than they are in 

 n^ore northern latitudes. A species of Marmot inhabits the 

 Rocky Mountains, of which I am sorry to say that no speci- 

 '^en was obtained. It is called by the Canadians Le Siffleun 

 heing remarkable for its whistling. I saw it occasionally^ 



midabl 



