300 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The Grizzly Bear has been long known to naturalists ; but the 

 above mentioned travellers were the first to give us a particular ac- 

 count of this monarch of the American forests. One killed by them, 

 near the Porcupine river measured as follows : 



Feet. Inches. 

 Length from the nose to the extremity of the 



hind feet, 8 



Circumference near the fore legs ... 5 

 of the neck .... 3 

 of the middle of the fore leg . 1 

 Length of the talons 



His weight, on conjecture, was between five and six hundred pounds.. 

 But this was not the largest Bear that was killed by the party. They 

 give an account of one which measured nine feet from the nose to 

 the extremity of the tail ; and the talons of another were six and a 

 quarter inches in length. It is said that this animal when full grown 

 and fat will exceed a thousand pounds. 



The American, or common Black Bear is found all over the unset- 

 tled parts of North America. Its cheeks and throat are of a yellow- 

 ish brown colour; the hair of its body and limbs is glossy and black. 



They are inoffensive to mankind, provided they are not irritated ; 

 but if wounded, they will turn on their assailant with great fury, and, 

 in. case they can lay hold, seldom fail of hugging him to death. They 

 cautiously avoid the hunters ; and the smallest dog will fill them with 

 alarm. They climb trees with great dexterity. 



The long time which these animals subsist without food is amazing. 

 They will continue in their retreat for six weeks without the least 

 provision, remaining either asleep or totally inactive. It is pretended 

 that they live by sucking their paws ; but this is a vulgar error. The 

 fact is, they retire immediately after autumn, when they have fattened 

 themselves to an excessive degree by the abundance of the fruits 

 which they find at that season. But when this internal support is 

 exhausted, and they begin to feel the call of hunger, on the approach 

 of the severe season they quit their dens in search of food. 



In the lower parts of New Jersey a few of these animals are yet 

 found. Their places of retreat are the thick solitary cedar swamps ; 

 through which it is extremely difficult for the hunters to pass, owing; 

 to the great quantity of fallen timber, the ruins of ancient forests ; 

 and the situation of the soil, which is low and wet. Now and then 

 one of these Bears is brought to the Philadelphia market, and the 

 lovers of good eating are indulged with a delicious repast. The fat 

 of the Bear, like that of the Green Turtle, never cloys or lies heavy 

 on the stomach, though one eats to excess. 



Opossum. This species is found as far north as Canada, where it 

 is called by the French inhabitants Le Rat de bois, or the Wood Rat ; 

 thence it extends southward, even to the Brasils and Peru. 



The Opossum is condsidered by naturalists as one of the most cu- 

 rious animals yet discovered. On the lower part of the belly of the 

 female is a large pouch, in which the teats are placed, and wherein 

 the young lodge as soon as they are born. She produces from four 

 to twelve at time. As soon as they come into the world they retreat 

 into the false belly, blind, naked and exactly resembling little foetuses. 

 They fasten closely to the teats, as if they grew to them. Here they 



