*M BEAR. 



The value attached to the skin of the Black Bear a value very 

 much decreased, for the skin that once fetched from 20 to 40 guineas 

 is now hardly worth more than from 20 to 60 shillings and the high 

 esteem in which the Indiana held their flesh, caused great havoc 

 among them. The importation into England in 1783 amounted to 

 10,500 skins, and ascended gradually to 25,000 in 1803, since which 

 time there appears to have been a considerable decline, as in a table 

 of exports and imports of skins in Great Britain, published in the 

 Catalogue of the Great Exhibition (vol. ii., p. 529), the number of 

 bear-skins is 9500 ; of these 8000 are again exported, so that the 

 consumption in Great Britain is only 1500 annually. It is nevertheless 

 used for military purposes in this country, as for caps, pistol-holsters, 

 rugs, &e. It is hence called often the Army Bear. 



The Black Bear is regarded with much superstition by the Indians. 

 The following account is given by Mr. A. Henry : " In the course of 

 the month of January I happened to observe that the trunk of a very 

 large pine-tree wag much torn by the claws of a bear, made both in 

 going up and down. On further examination I saw that there was a 

 large opening in the upper part, near which the smaller branches were 

 broken. From these marks, and from the additional circumstance 

 that there were no tracks in the snow, there was reason to believe that 

 a bear lay concealed in the tree. On returning to the lodge I commu- 

 nicated my discovery ; and it was agreed that all the family should 

 go together in the morning to assist in cutting down the tree, the 

 girth of which was not less than three fathoms. The women at first 

 opposed the undertaking, because our axes being only of a pound and 

 a half weight were not well adapted to so heavy a labour ; but the 

 hope of finding a large bear, and obtaining from its fat a great quantity 

 of oil, an article at the time much wanted, at length prevailed. 

 Accordingly in the morning we surrounded the tree, both men and 

 women, as many at a time as could conveniently work at it ; and there 

 we toiled like beavers till the sun went down. This day's work carried 

 us about half-way through the trunk, and the next morning we renewed 

 the attack, continuing it till about two o'clock in the afternoon, when 

 the tree fell to the ground. For a few minutes everything remained 

 quiet, and I feared that all our expectations would be disappointed ; 

 but as I advanced to the opening there came out, to the great satis- 

 faction of all our party, a bear of extraordinary size, which I shot. 

 The bear being dead all my assistants approached, and all, bxit parti- 

 cularly my old mother (as I was wont to call her), took the head in 

 their hands, stroking and kissing it several times ; begging a thousand 

 pardons for taking away her life ; calling her their relation and grand- 

 mother ; and requesting her not to lay the fault upon them, since it 

 was truly an Englishman that had put her to death. This ceremony 

 was not of long duration, and if it was I that killed their grandmother 

 they were not themselves behindhand in what remained to be per- 

 formed. The skin being taken off, we found the fat in several places 

 six inches deep. This being divided into two parts loaded two per- 

 sons, and the flesh-parts were as much as four persons could carry. 

 In all, the carcass must have exceeded five hundred-weight. As soon 

 as we reached the lodge the bear's head was adorned with all the 

 trinkets in the possession of the family, such as silver arm-bands, and 

 wrist-bands, and belts of wampum, and then laid upon a scaffold set 

 up for its reception within the lodge. Near the nose was placed a 

 large quantity of tobacco. The next morning no sooner appeared 

 than preparations were made for a feast to the manes. The lodge 

 was cleaned and swept, and the head of the bear lifted up,-and a new 

 Stroud blanket which had never been used before spread under it. 

 The pipes were now lit, and Wawatam blew tobacco-smoke into the 

 nostrils of the bear, telling me to do the same, and thus appease the 

 anger of the bear on account of my having killed her. I endeavoured 

 to pers\iade my benefactor and friendly adviser that she no longer had 

 any life, and assured him that I was under no apprehension from her 

 displeasure; but the first proposition obtained no credit, and the 

 second gave but little satisfaction. At length the feast being ready, 

 Wawatam made a speech resembling in many respects his address to 

 the manes of his relations and departed companions ; but having this 

 peculiarity, that he here deplored the necessity under which men 

 laboured thus to destroy their friends. He represented however that 

 the misfortune was unavoidable, since without doing so they could 

 by no means subsist. The speech ended, we all ate heartily of the 

 bear's flesh ; and even the head itself, after remaining three days on 

 the scaffold, was put into the kettle." 



The Cinnamon Hear is a variety of this species. There is a specimen 

 in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, which was presented in 1829, 

 so that he is now at least 24 years old. His mate died in 1849. The 

 Yellow Bear of Carolina, and the Ours Gulaire (Urnu gularia of 

 Geoffrey), with a white throat, are also varieties. 



V. ornottu (F. Cuvier), the Spectacled Bear, inhabits the Cordilleras 

 of the Andes in Chile. Its fur is smooth, shining, and black, with the 

 following exceptions : Its short muzzle is of a dirty yellow or buff 

 ful'iur, and there are two semicircular marks of the same hue, remind- 

 ing the observer of a pair of spectacles, above the eyes ; the under 

 parts of the throat and neck and the upper part of the breast are 

 whitish. 



/'. ferox (Dimis ferny, Gray), the Grizzle Bear of Umfreville, 

 Grimly Bear of Mackenzie, Grizzly Bear of Warden, Urtitt einereus 

 of Desmarest, Urtut hmribilit of Say, Mcesheh Musquaw or Meechee 



BEAR. 



400 



Musquaw of the Cree Indians, and Ursvs ferox (Lewis and Clarke, 

 who first accurately described the animal, calling it often the White 

 Bear), is nearly double the size of the Black Bear. Cuvier however, 



Spectacled Bear (Vrsus orntittis]. 



in spite of its size, regarded it as a variety of U. Arctos. Lewis and 

 Clarke give the measurement of one as 9 feet from the nose to the 

 tail, and state that they had seen one of larger dimensions. Eight 

 hundred pounds is reported to be the weight to which it attains. 

 The length of the fore foot in one of those measured by the 

 travellers above quoted is given as exceeding 9 inches, that of the 



Grisly Bear (1'i-siis 



hind foot at llj without the talons, and the breadth 7 inches. The 

 claws of the fore feet, which are a good deal longer and less curved 

 than those of the hind feet, measured in another individual more than 

 C inches. This part of its organisation is well adapted for digging, 

 but not for climbing, and the adult Grisly Bear is said not to ascend 

 trees. The muzzle is lengthened, narrowed, and flattened, and the 

 canine teeth are highly developed, exhibiting a great increase of size 

 and power. The tail is very small, and so entirely lost in the hair 

 which covers the buttocks, that it is a standing joke among the 

 Indian hunters, as Sir John Richardson observes, when they have 

 killed a Grisly Bear, to desire any one unacquainted with the animal 

 to take hold of its tail. The fur, or rather hair is abundant, long, and 

 varying through most of the intermediate gradations between grey 

 and blackish brown, which last is prevalent and more or less grizzled. 

 On the muzzle it is pale and short, on the legs it is darker and coarser. 

 The eyes are small and rather sunk in the head. 



Unwieldy as this animal appears, it is capable of great rapidity of 

 motion, and its strength is overpowering. The bison contends in vain 

 with the Grisly Bear. The conqueror drags the enormous carcass 

 (weighing about 1000 Ibs.) to a chosen place, digs a pit for its recep- 

 tion, and repairs to it till the exhausted store compels him to renew 

 the chase. And yet he will be satisfied with fruits and roots ; and on 

 his diet depends the aggravated or mitigated ferocity of his disposi- 

 tion. This animal is very temicious of life. The long claws are strung 



