548 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



■will, unless much exercised, fat- 

 ten on the dry grass affurded by 

 the plains during the winter. 

 Tiie plains are rarely, if ever, 

 moistened by rain, and the grass 

 is consequently short and thin. 

 The natives, excepting those of 

 the Rocky mountains, appear to 

 take no pains in selecting their 

 male horses for hieed ; and in- 

 deed, those of that chiss appear 

 much the most inditfei'^nt. ■\\'hc- 

 ther the horse was originally a 

 native of this country or not, the 

 soil and climate appear to be per- 

 fectly well adapted to the nature 

 of this animal. Horses are said 

 to be found wild in many parts of 

 this extensive country. The se- 

 veral tribes of Shoshonees who le- 

 ?ide towards Mexico, on the waters 

 of the INIutlomah river, and par- 

 ticularly one of them, called Sha- 

 boboah, have also a great number 

 of mules, ^»llich the Indians prize 

 more highly th.ui horses. An 

 eIei:C''^nt horse may be punhr.scd 

 of the natives for a few beads or 

 other paltiy trinkets, which in the 

 United Stateswould not cost more 

 than one or two dollars. The 

 abundance and cheapness of Ijorses 

 will be extremely advantageous 

 to those who may hereafter at- 

 tempt the Fur trade to the East 

 Indies, by the way of the Colum- 

 bia liver, iind the Pacific ocean. 



2. The dog is unusually small, 

 about the size of anordiiu'.ry cur: 

 he is usually jiarti-coloured, a- 

 mongst which, the black, white, 

 brown, and brindle, arc the co- 

 lours most predominant : the 

 head is long, the nose pointed, 

 the eyes small, tlie ears erect and 

 pointed, like those of the wolf : 

 the hair is short and smooth, ex- 

 cepting on the tallj where it is 



long and straight, like that of the 

 ordinary cur dog. The natives 

 never eat the flesh of this animal, 

 and he appears to be in no other 

 *fay serviceable to them than in 

 hunting the elk. 



The second division compre- 

 hends the brown, wliite, or grisly 

 bear, the black bear ; the deer. 

 Common red deer, the black-tailed 

 fallow deer, the mule deer, the 

 elk, the v/olves, the large brown 

 wolf, the small wolf of the plains, 

 the tiger-cat, th.e foxes, the com- 

 mon red fox, the silver fox, the 

 fisher or black fox, the large red 

 fox of tlie plains, the kit-fox, or 

 small fox of the plains, the ante- 

 lope, the sheep, beaver, common 

 otter, sea-otter, mink, seal, ra- 

 coon, squirrels, large gray squii- 

 rel, small gray squirrel, small 

 brcwn squirrel, ground squirrel, 

 braro, rat, mouse, mole, panther, 

 hare, rabbit, polecat or skunk. 



First, the brown, white or gris- 

 ly bear, winch seem to be of the 

 same family, with an accidental 

 variation of colour only, inhabit 

 the timbered jiarts of the Rocky 

 mountains. They are rarely found 

 on the western side, and are more 

 commonly below theRocky moun- 

 tains, in the plains, or on their 

 borders, amidst copses of brush 

 and underwood, and near the wa- 

 ter courses. We are unable to 

 leavn that they inhabit at all in 

 the woody countiy bordering on 

 the coast, as far in the interior as 

 the range of mountains which 

 pass the Columbia, between the 

 great falls and the rapids of that 

 river. 



2. The black bear differs in no 

 respect from those common to the 

 United States. They chiefly in- 

 habit timbered pans of the Rocky, 

 mountains, 



