B E A 



B K A 



r>( its claws. Its greatest affinity is with the brown bear of 

 Norway; but its identity with 'that species has not been 

 established by actual comparison. It frequent (lie *ea- 

 eoast in autumn in considerable numbers, lor the purpose 

 of feeding on fish. The general colour of this hear is a 

 dusky, or sometimes yellowish -brown, but the shoulders and 

 flanks are. in the summer season at least, covered with long 

 hair, which is frequently very pale towards the tips. The 

 Indians and their interpreters, who are not very pr. 

 their application of the few terms they ha- ss \a- 



rieties of colour, often denominate them " white 1 



Thc*c are. not improbably, the 'silver bears' (silber-btir 

 i, which Pennant considers to be the same 

 MTOtosc which inhabit the north of Kurope, thnu:rh he dc- 

 m as n variety of the American black bear. 



U:. Richardson says 'that the barren-ground bear does 

 not possess the boldness of the true grisly hear (f V*M\.' 

 as ullthe individuals seen by his party lied at once. 1 1 

 that it resorts lo the coast of the Arctic Sea in the month i.i 

 August, and that it preys indiscriminately upon animal and 

 able food. 



To an eminence which had been much ploughed up by 

 th<- hears in quest of Arctnmys Parryi (Parry's marmot), 

 termed by Hearne ' ground hog,' according to the same 

 author, Hearne pave the name of Grizzle-Hear Hill; and 

 in the stomach of one of these bears which he openeil the 

 Doctor found the remains of a seal, a marmot, a largo quan- 

 tity of the long, sweet roots of some astragali and tttdyxnra, 

 ier with some berries, and a little gr.iss. Many long, 

 white worms adhered to the interior of the stomach. He 

 also observes that the tail of the barren-ground bear is 

 lunger than that of the black bear, which is conspicuous 

 nuugh. 



Subgenus Dams. 



The Grisly or Grizzly Bear. Ursus (Danis) ferox. 

 Cuvier, in the last edition of his ' Rcgne Animal,' expresses 

 a doubt as to the specific distinction of this formidable bear. 

 ' II n'est pas encore bien prouvt- pour nous quo 1'ours cendre, 

 Tours terrible de 1'Ameriquc Septentrionale, soil different, 

 par 1'cspece, de 1'ours brun d'Kurope,' says the note ap- 

 pended to Ursus ArclM ; and the species is not mentioned 

 among the others recorded in the work. This is certainly 

 great authority, but it is more than balanced : and with all 

 due submission to so great a name, an examination of the 

 animal will prove it to be as strongly defined a species as 

 any which Cuvier has himself admitted. These differences 

 indeed are so well marked, as to have induced Mr. Gray to 

 separate it from its conveners as a submenus. 



[Unui tnoz.] 



The Grizzle Dear of Urafrevillc, Grtsiy Bear of Mac- 

 kenzie, (j'rizzli/ Hi;,r of Warden, Ursus cincrr.iu of Des- 



<u\ korribilit <<i s.i>..iA'.i,W(.i/.wy/ 

 chee Afutquate of thcCrce Indian*, ILIilf > iopun- 



Indians, and Urtut ferox (Lewis and Clarke wii 

 accurately described the animal, callnm it ulbn ' While 

 Bear'), is nearly double the size of the black licar. Lewis ami 



Clarke give the measurement of one as nine f<t>t from nose 

 to t.nl, and state that they had seen one of larger dimension*, 

 hundred pounds i- rc)iortcd to be the weight to which 

 it attains. The length of the fore-foot in one of those mea- 

 sured by tho travellers above quoted is given as exceeding 

 nine inches, that of the hind-foot at eleven and three-quar- 

 ters without the talons, and the breadth seven inches. The 

 claws ot the lore-feet, whirh are a good deal longer and less 

 euned than those of the hind-feet, measure ; et in- 



dividual more than six inches. This part of itsorgum/ 

 is well adapted for digging, but not for climbing, and the 

 adult grisly bear is said not to ascend trees. The muzzle it 

 lengthened, narrowed, and flattened, and t 

 are highly dc\elo|H-d, exhibiting a great increase of size and 

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

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

 among the Indian hunters, as Dr. Richardson ob" 

 when they have killed a grisly bear, to desire any one un- 

 acquainted with the animal to take hold of its tail. The 

 fur, or rather hair is abundant, Ions, and varying through 

 most of the intermediate gradations lie: . ami 



blackish brown, which last is prevalent and more cr 

 grizzled. On the muzzle it is pale and short, on tin- 

 it i- darker and coarser. The eyes are small and rather 

 sunk in the bead. 



Unwieldy as this animal appears, it is capable of great 

 rapidity of motion, and its strength i- overpowering. The 

 bison contends in vain with the grisly hear. The conqueror 

 drags the enormous carcase (weighing about one tho-. 1 

 pounds) to a chosen place, digs a pit for its reception, 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 mil; 

 ferocity of his disposition. The bears on the we 

 of the Rocky Mountains, which feed for the most part on a 

 vegetable diet, are mild, when compared with those of tho 

 eastern side, whose appetite for blood is whetted by the 

 abundant supply of animal food which is I here offered lo 

 them. The accounts given of the tenacity with which the 

 grisly bear clings to life would be almost beyond belief, 

 were they not related by witnesses worthy of all credit. It is 

 recorded, that one whose lungs had been pierced with fivu 

 and whose body was suffering under five other 

 wounds, swam a considerable distance to a sand-bar in the 

 river, and survived twenty minutes; thai another, shot 

 through the centre of the hniL's, pursued for half a mile the 

 hunter by whom the wound was given, then returned more 

 than twice that distance, due; a bed for itself in the earth, 

 two feet in depth and five feet in length, and was appa- 

 rently in full life at least two hours after the shot was 

 fired ; and that athird, though shot through the heart with- 

 in twenty paces, as he was rushing on the hunter, fell indeed, 

 but got up again. ' We then,' say the travellers, ' followed 

 him one hundred yards and found that the wound had been 

 mortal.' These, and many other instances are recorded by 

 Lewis and Clarke. 



Numerous, indeed, and interesting are the relations of 

 contests with this ferocious animal. The following narra- 

 tive by Dr. Richardson is selected, as being comparatively 

 modern, and throwing some lighten its habits. 'A pai-ty 

 of voyagers, who had been employed all day in tracking a 

 canoe up the Saskatchewan, had sealed 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 

 lilted behind them, and seizing one of the parly by the 

 shoulder, carried him off. The rest lied in terror, wilh the 

 exception of a metif, named Hourasso, who, grasping his 

 gun, followed the bear as it was retreating leisurely with its 

 prey. He called to his unfortunate comrade', that In 

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

 entreated him to fire immediately, without hesitation, as 

 the bear was squeezing him to death. On this he took a 

 deliberate aim, and discharged his piece into the body of 

 the bear, who instantly dropjiod its prey to pursue Bourasso. 

 He escaped with difliculty, and the bear ultimately retreated 

 to a thicket, whore il was supposed lo have died; but llie 

 curiosity of the party not being a match for their fears, the 

 fact of its decease was not ascertained. Tho man who was 

 rescued bad his arm fractured, and was otherwise severely 

 bitten, hut finally recoveied. 1 have seen Hourasso, and 

 can add. that tlie account which he -. i\ < -i edited 



by the trader* resident in that parl ol the country, wi 



.uuliflcd to judge of iU truth from their knowledge of 



