[ 5Si ] 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



VTHITt BKAR. 



CProm Lewis and Clarke's Trateh.) 



OF the strength and ferocity 

 of this animal, the Indians 

 had given us dreadful accounts : 

 they never attack him but in par- 

 ties of six or eight persons, and 

 even then are often defeated witli 

 the loss of one or more of their 

 number. Having no weapons 

 but bows and arrows, and the 

 bad guns with which the traders 

 supply them, they are obliged ap- 

 proach very near to the bear ; 

 and as no wound except through 

 the head or heart is mortal, they 

 requently fall a sacrifice if they 

 miss their aim. He rather at- 

 tacks than avoids a man, and such 

 is the terror which he has inspir- 

 ed, that the Indians who go in 

 quest of him paint themselves and 

 perform all the superstitious rites 

 customary when they make war 

 on a neighbouring nation. Hi- 

 therto those we had seen did not 

 appear desirous of encountering 

 us, but although to a skilful rifle- 

 man the danger is very much di- 

 minished, yet the Avhite bear is 

 still a terrible animal. On ap- 

 proaching these two, both Cap- 



tain Lewis and the hunter fired 

 and each wounded a bear : one of 

 them made his escape ; the other 

 turned upon Captain Lewis and 

 pursued him seventy or eighty 

 yards, but being badly wounded 

 he could not lun so fast as to pre- 

 vent him from reloading his piece, 

 which he again aimed at him, and 

 a third shot from the hunter 

 brought him to the ground: he 

 was a male not quite full grown, 

 and weighed about three hundred 

 pounds : the legs are somewhat 

 longer than those of the black 

 bear, and the talons and tusks 

 much larger and longer. The 

 testicles aie also placed nmch far- 

 ther forward, and suspended in 

 separate pouches from two to four 

 inches asunder, while those of 

 the black bear are situated back 

 between the thighs, and in a 

 single pouch like those of the 

 dog : its colour is a yellowish 

 brown, the eyes small, black, and 

 piercing ; the front of the fore 

 legs near the feet is usually black, 

 and the fiu- is finer, thicker, and 

 deeper than that of the black bear : 

 add to which, it is a more furious 

 animal, and very remarkable for 

 the wounds which it will bear 

 without dying. 



BROWN 



