

BE \i:. 







into necklace*, and highly prized by the Indiana tut trophies of their 

 pro woo. 



The following ncoount of the habita of the Orialy Bear IB given by 

 Sir John Uichardson : " A party of voyagers who had been employe.! 

 all day in tracking a canoe up the Saskatchewan had seated themselves 

 in the twilight by a fire, and were busy in preparing their supper, 

 when a large grisly bear sprang over the canoe that was tilted behind 

 them, and selling one of the party by the shoulder carried him off. 

 The rest fled in terror, with the exception of a metif named Bourasso, 

 who, grasping his gun, followed the bear as it was retreating leUurely 

 with its jirry. He called to his unfortunate comrade that he was 

 afraid of hitting him if he fired at the bear, but the latter entreated 

 him to fire iramodur.lv. without hesitation, as the bear was squeezing 

 him to death. On this he took a deliberate aim, and discharged bin 

 piece into the body of the bear, who instantly dropped its prey to 

 pursue Bourasso. He escaped with difficulty, and the bear ultimately 

 retreated to a thicket, where it was supposed to have died ; but the 

 cariosity of the party not being a match for their fears the fact of it* 

 decease was not ascertained. The man who was rescued had his arm 

 fractured, and was otherwise severely bitten, but finally recovered. I 

 have seen Bourasso, and can add that the account which he gives is 

 fully credited by tie traders resident in that part of the country, 

 who are best qualified to judge of its truth from their knowledge of 

 the parties. I have been told that there is a man now living in the 

 neighbourhood of Edmonton-house who was attacked by a grisly bear, 

 which sprang out of a thicket, and with one stroke of its paw com- 

 pletely scalped him, laying bare the skull, and bringing the skin of 

 the forehead down over the eyes. Assistance coming up, the bear 

 made off without doing him further injury, but the scalp not being 

 replaced the poor man has lost his sight, although he thinks his eyes 

 are uninjured. Mr. Drummond, in his excursions over the Rocky 

 Mountains, had frequent opportunities of observing the manners of 

 the grisly beam, and it often happened that in turning the point of a 

 rock or sharp angle of a valley he came suddenly upon one or more of 

 them. On such occasions they reared on their hind legs, and made a 

 loud noise like a person breathing quick, but much harsher. He kept 

 his ground, without attempting to molest them ; and they on their 

 part, after attentively regarding him for some time, generally wheeled 

 round and galloped off; though, from their known disposition, there 

 is little doubt but he would have been torn in pieces had he lost his 

 presence of mind and attempted to fly. When he discovered them 

 from a distance he generally frightened them away by beating on a 

 large tin-box in which he carried his specimens of plants. He never 

 saw more than four together, and two of these he supposes to have 

 been cubs ; he more often met them singly, or in pairs. He was only 

 once attacked, and then by a female, for the purpose of allowing her 

 cubs to escape. His gun on this occasion missed fire, but he kept 

 her at bay with the stock of it until some gentlemen of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, with whom he was travelling at the time, came up and 

 drove her off. In the latter end of June, 1826, he observed a male 

 t'.-mal', and soon afterwards they both came towards him, 

 but whether accidentally or for the purpose of attacking him he was 

 uncertain. He ascended a tree, and as the female drew near fired at 

 and mortally wounded her. She uttered a few loud screams, which 

 threw the male into a furious rage, and he reared up against the trunk 

 of the tree in which Mr. Dmnunond was seated, but never attempted 

 to ascend it. The female in the meanwhile retiring to a short distance, 

 lay down, and as the male was proceeding to join her Mr. Drummond 

 shot him also. From the size of their teeth and claws he judged 

 them to be about four years old. The cubs of a grisly bear can climb 

 trees, but when the animal is fully grown it is unable to do so, as the 

 Indians report, from the form of its claws." 



The Rocky Mountains, and the plains to the eastward of them, 

 particularly, according to Mr. Drummond, the districts which arc 

 interspersed with open prairies and grassy hills, are the chief haunta 



of the Grisly Bears. To the north they have been observed as far as 

 61 of latitude, and it is supposed that they are to bo found still 



farther. ' To the south it is said that they extend as far as Mexico. 



There are three young specimens of this animal at present (1853) in 



the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park. 



Atiallc Rtart, 



L'rnu cntlarit (F. Cuvier), the Siberian Bear, approaches'closely to 

 the Brown Bear (L'rnu Aretoi), and is at best a doubtful 

 The hair in quality and colour i much the same with that of the 

 Brown Bear, with the distinction of a largo white collar which passes 

 over the upper part of the back and the shoulders, and is complete 

 upon the breast. 



!'. Tliilirlnnm (II I it), the Tibet Bear. M. llnvauec 



discovered this the mountains of Sylhet, and 1'r. Wallicl 



found it in those of Nejianl. The Tibet Bear has the neck rcmarkal .1 \ 

 thick, and the head flattened, the forehead and muuU forming alnKM 

 a straight line. The cars are of a large size. Ite clumsy limbs suppor 

 a compact body, and the claws are comparatively weak. It* 

 colour is black ; but the lower lip is white, mi. I there it* a large marl 

 of the same colour, somewhat in the f.,nn <( the letter Y, suppo-iiif 

 the stem of the letter to be placed in the middle of the breast, am 

 the forks to pass up in front of the rhuuldi-r*. In Imlk it 



ntermcdwte between the Sloth Bear (I'ntrltiliii Inliialut) and the 

 Malayan Bear (L'rnu MalayaoMt). Mr. Bennett, in hi.* 'Tower 

 lenagerie,' gives a figure and description of one which was brought 



Si' trian Bear (I'l-iut collarts), 



Vom Sumatra, and could not be prevailed on to touch flesh either raw 

 or cooked, bread and fruits forming his only food. In his disposition 

 le was moderately tame, and particularly fond of play. 



U. habeUinvt, Isabella-coloured Bear. Dr. Horsfield first described 

 .his species from a skin forwarded from the mountains of Nepaul. 

 The skull had been removed, but the front teeth in both jaws and tin- 

 claws remain 



-' 



Isabel Iteir (fniis Thitttmau). 



" Our animal," says Dr. lie of a habit <! 



from that of several species of I'mi* from ; :,rt of tin 1 world, 



which have been recently added to tin sy.-tcmatie catalu: 

 the L'rswt Tl< ':i>if//y, and the / 



All these In k fur, a scniilunar mark of a white colour on 



the breast, and other peculiarities :i Hording types of sub-p. n 

 which Prochilu* and //' ln-en dclined. Onr animal. < 



contrary, appears to resemble the European bears in its ,-M-H. 

 far at least as can be determined from the part* which 

 preserved in the specimen. Among these, the claws afford the best 

 means of comparison; they arc small, olitnsr, and .strai^M., while 

 those ' ie bears above mentioned are 



acute, and fitted for climbing." A living specimen of th 

 now to be pern in the Zoological Gardei 



'f the whole Himalayan ranp 

 led to the nnp|>osltion that it was another form of the \\ hi Hear. 



HCIM, the Syrian Bear. The she-bears whii 1 

 of the wood, "and tare foi-ty and two" of i 



(2 Kind's ii. 'j:i, it *?<].), are probably the first beam on record. The. c 

 bears of Syria may be occasionally traced in mi' 

 Thus Matthew Paris, in his 'KiiKlnnil.' ivlat, s h iliiix 



ridus), as he was riding for recreation in a nciL-lil>ouriiic 

 during the siege of Antiooh f.t< j".<r 



