246 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



Mr. John Firth, for several years clerk in charge at La Pierre's 

 House, states that there were no black bears in that vicinity. 

 During the ten months spent at Rae only three were killed 

 within a radius of twenty miles of the fort. They are frequently 

 seen in descending the Athabasca River and along the Macken- 

 zie below Wrigley. They do not occur in the Barren Ground. 



Claw of Polar Bear. 

 Thalarctos mantimiis. 



Ursus horribilis Ord. 



Claw of Grizzly Bear. 



Ursus horribilis. 



Grizzly Bear. 



The Loucheux look upon the grizzly with dread and often 

 fire repeatedly at the lifeless carcass, as experience has shown 

 them that the grizzly sometimes recovers from the shock and 

 attacks the unwary hunter. After killing one of this species, 

 while traversing the delta of the Mackenzie, I noticed that our 

 Loucheux canoemen seemed to have a much greater respect 

 for me. 1 This specimen weighed about seven hundred pounds 

 and its specific gravity was such that it required considerable 

 effort to raise the carcass to the surface after dragging it across 

 the river. 



Handsome silver-tipped robes are brought to the trader at 

 McPherson. Another variety, according to Mr. Joseph Hodg- 

 son, "varies in color from reddish brown to yellowish white; 

 this is not the Barren Ground bear (U. ric hards otii Reid) , the 

 skins of which are brought to us by the natives living east of 

 the Mackenzie Delta." 



I saw at least a hundred skins from the coast between Bath- 

 urst Inlet and Cape Tchaplin, Siberia, which exhibited every 



1 See p. 140, ante. 



