NATURAL HISTORY. 



553 



far up the Columbia rivei* as the 

 Great Falls, and none have been 

 discovered besond them. The 

 skins of such as Captain Lewis 

 examined, were covered with a 

 short, coarse, stitT, and glossy 

 hair, of a reddish brown colour. 

 This animal, wlien in the water, 

 appeared of a black colour, and 

 sometimes spotted with white. 

 AV'e believe tliiat there are several 

 species of this animal to be found 

 in this country, but we could not 

 procure a sufficient number to 

 make the examination : the skins 

 wei-e precisely of the same kind as 

 our countrymen employ in the 

 manufacture of trunks. 



1.5. The racoon inhabits woody 

 coimtries bordering on the coast, 

 in considerable numbers, and is 

 caught by the natives witii sna.res 

 or pitfalls : they hold their skins 

 in but littJe or no estimation, and 

 very seldom make tliem into 

 robes. * 



16. The squirrels we have seen, 

 are. 



The large gray squirrel, l-his 

 animal appears to be an inhabi- 

 tant of a narrow tract of coun'ry, 

 Mell coverednvith whitooak tim- 

 ber, and situated on the iq)per 

 side of t!ie mountains just below 

 Columbia Falls. This animal we 

 have only found in those tracts 

 which liave been covered with 

 timber; for in covmtries where 

 pine is most abundant, lie does 

 not ajjpear : he is much siqjerior 

 in size to the common gray squir- 

 rel, and resembles in fmin, co- 

 lour and size, the fox-squiri'cl of 

 the Atlantic states : the tail ex- 

 ceeds tlie whole length of tlie 

 body and head : tlie eyes are dark, 

 the whiskers long and black : the 

 back sides of the head and tail, 



and outward part of the legs, are 

 all of a bl\ie coloured gray : the 

 breast, belly, and inner part of 

 the body, are all of a pure white: 

 the hair is short, like that of ttie 

 fox-squirrel, though much finer, 

 and intermixed with a pot tion of 

 fur. The natives hold the skin of 

 this animal in high estimation, 

 which they use in forming their 

 robes. He subsists on the acorn 

 am) filberts, which last grows in 

 great abundance in the oak coun- 

 try. 



The small gray squirrel is com- 

 mon to every ])ait of the Rocky 

 mountains Avhere timber abounds. 

 He differs from the dark brown 

 squiriel in colour only. The 

 back, sides, neck, head, tail and 

 outer side of the legs, are of a 

 brownish lead-coloured gray : the 

 tail is Slightly touched with a dark 

 reddish colour, near tlie extremi- 

 ty of some of the hairs : the 

 throat, breast, belly, and inner 

 parts of the legs, are of the co- 

 lour of a tanner's ooze, and have 

 a narrow strip of black, com- 

 mencing behind each shoulder, 

 and entering longitudinally about 

 three inches, between the colours 

 of the sides and belly. Their ha- 

 bits are precisely those of the dark 

 brown squirrel, and like them tliey 

 are extremely nimble aud active. 

 There is also a species of squir- 

 rel, evidently distinct, which we 

 have denominated the burrowing 

 s(iuiiitl. He inhabits tliese 

 jdains, and j-omewhat resembles 

 those found on the INlissouri : he 

 measures one foot and five inches 

 in length, of which the tail com- 

 prises two and a half inches only : 

 tlie neck and legs are short ; the 

 ears are likewise short, obtusely 

 pointed, and lie close to the head, 



and 



