MAMMALS. 257 



very careful not to tell auy one if he intends going on a bear hunt. They believe that the bear 

 •would be instantly aware of their intention should they speak of it, and a person who speaks dis- 

 respectfully of bears or makes sport of them in auy way is in dauger of being attacked by them 

 when he goes into the hills on his next hunt. 



The Black Bear iigures very often in the religious dances of the Eskimo, and among the 

 masks obtained by me along the coast of Bering Sea are a number representing the head of this 

 animal. 



Veniamiuov, in writiug of the animals of the Aleutian Islands, states that these bears were 

 fouud on the easternmost of the islands. 



From Elliott's translation of this account I quote the following notes, which refer also to the 

 Cinnamon Bear : " The hunters are only afraid of those which have torn ears." Speaking of their 

 habits on the mainland, he says that "At the time of salmon running in the rivers, bears generally 

 go there and capture lish." " The bears go into the water above their knees, stand up opposite the 

 stream, and watch a St opportunity when they cau grab or snatch the lish, which, when they see 

 it uear, they instantly strike at with their paws, and most always hit ; then they either throw or 

 carry their prey to the beach and return to continue their work, until they have as many as they 

 want." The bears only eat the head, as this is the fattest part of the fish. 



Ursus americanus cinnamoneus Bachman. Cinuamou Beai'. (Esk. Tdhi-hl). 



Biographical notes. — This animal has a more general distribution in JSTorthern Alaska than its 

 black relative. The wooded country, the bare, rocky mountain sides and the desolate barrens ap- 

 pear to be almost equally favored by them, though at times an abundance of food draws them toward 

 certain districts. The fur traders from the entire course of the Yukon bring many of their skins 

 to Saint Michaels each spring, and the Eed Bear is well known to all the mainland coast tribes of 

 the Territory from near the extreme uorthern iiart of the Arctic coast southward. They are re- 

 ported as being extremely numerous about the head of Bristol Bay, also at various poiuts along the 

 peninsula of Aliaska and the adjacent Pacific coast to the eastward. 



Although the uatives, both Eskimo and Indian, do not consider the Black Bear a very for- 

 midable antagonist under ordinary circumstances, yet the Eed Bear is almost universally dreaded 

 among them for its fierce and relentless temper. They have the reputation of exhibiting their 

 ferocious character even without provocation, and if wounded they become very dangerous. Many 

 native hunters will permit this bear to pass undisturbed unless they have him at great disadvan- 

 tage. 



In common with the other kinds of bears this animal figures in the Eskimo and Indian legends. 



They feed upou the same berries and fish as does the Black Bear, and in certain districts 

 about the peninsula of Aliaska in June and July, regular paths are trodden along the banks of the 

 larger streams where they search for the exhausted salmon which swarm in the streams at this 

 time. 



In some instances when a natural shelter cannot be found in which they cau pass the winter 

 the bears go intelligently at work to make one. Along the Pacific coast of the Territory this 

 shelter is often formed by an excavation on a steep hillside, but in the Lower Yukon Valley, where 

 the soil is perpetually frozen within a short distance of the surface, they are forced to adopt another 

 measure. Fragments of wood, long branches, and brush are piled up iuto a dome-shaped mass in 

 some secluded spot in the woods, and under this the bear ensconces himself for <^he winter, and the 

 first snowfall puts a good roof over his quarters. * 



During the winter of 1S79-'S0 a couple of Indian boys were out hunting ptarmigan below Auvik, 

 on the Yukon, with an old shot-gun, and one of them felt the snow give way beneath his foot in 

 passing over a slight hummock in the woods. Finding a small opening extending down several 

 feet the boys got a long stick and began poking about in it. Yery soon a large Cinnamon Bear 

 began stirring about and thrust his head partly out of the hole the boys had made, but, owing to 

 his brush-house being frozen fast to the ground, he was unable to get further, and oue of the boys 

 placed the muzzle of the guu close to his head and killed him with bird-shot. The meat of this 

 animal was lean and tough, but was not noticably rank in flavor. 

 S. Mis. 15G 33 



