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$ature. 



53 



food, it will remain without further suste- 

 nance till the ensuing spring ; during which 

 time the female generally produces two cubs, 

 which when first born are not much larger 

 than a mastiff's puppies. 



Most writers agree that the Brown Bear 

 was at one time common in the British 

 islands. The Caledonian bears (another 

 name for British with the Romans) were 

 imported to make sport for the Roman 

 people, to whom the excitement of wit- 

 nessing the suffering of man and beast, 

 in its most distressing shape, seems to have 

 been but too welcome. For many years (says 

 Mr. Broderip) it has been swept away from 

 our islands so completely, that we find it im- 

 ported for baiting, a sport in which our no- 

 bility, as well as the commonalty, of the 

 olden time nay, even royalty itself de- 

 lighted. A bear-bait was one of the re- 

 creations offered to Elizabeth at Kenilworth, 

 and in the Earl of Northumberland's House- 

 hold Book we read of 20s. for his bear-ward. 

 In Southwark there was a regular bear- 

 garden, that disputed popularity with the 

 Globe and Swan theatres on the same side 

 of the water. Now, however, so much do 

 tastes alter (in this instance certainly for 

 the better), such barbarous sports are ba- 

 nished from the metropolis." 



The AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. ( Ur- 

 sus Amcricamis.) This animal is somewhat 

 smaller than the European Brown Bear just 

 described. It has a long head, pointed nose, 

 small eyes, and short ears rounded at the 

 top ; its limbs are strong, thick, and clumsy; 

 its tail is short, its feet large, and the hair 

 on the body and limbs is black, smooth, and 

 glossy. This animal inhabits all the north- 

 ern parts of America, migrating occasionally 

 from the northern to the more southern parts 

 in quest of food, which consists chiefly of 

 vegetables and grain. So impenetrable are 

 their retreats during the period of gestation, 

 that although immense numbers of Bears 

 are killed annually in America, hardly a 

 single female is ever found among them. 

 The flesh of these Bears in autumn, when 

 they are become exceedingly large by feed- 

 ing on acorns and other arborescent food, 

 is extremely delicate ; the hams, in parti- 

 cular, are much esteemed ; and the fat, 

 which preserves a certain degree of fluidity, 

 is remarkably white and sweet. In the 

 Canadian Naturalist, by Air. P. H. Gosse, the 

 following account of this animal forms a 

 portion of the author's interesting ' Conver- 

 sations ' : 



" This species appear to be less carnivorous 

 than the Ursus Arctos of northern Europe, 

 and less ferocious. His chief food seems 

 to be of a vegetable nature, grain, fruits, and 

 roots. He has an appetite for pork, however, 

 and occasionally makes a visit to the farmer's 



hog-sty for the purpose of cultivating an 

 ith the grunting inhabitants. 

 Some years ago, one of our nearest neigh- 



acquaintance with the grunting inhabitants. 

 Some years ago, one of our nearest neigh- 

 bours was aroused in the night by a com- 



motion in his hog-pen ; suspecting the 

 cause, he jumped up immediately, took his 

 gun, and saw a bear in the act of getting 

 over the fence with a fine hog, embraced 



very lovingly in his fore-paws. The man 

 fired (while his wife held a light), and killed 

 the intruder. It is difficult to hurt a bear 

 with any weapon but fire-arms ; he fights 

 with his fore-paws like a cat ; and so watch- 

 ful is he, and so expert at warding off every 

 blow that is made at him, that it is next to 

 impossible to strike his head, the only part 

 in which he is vulnerable ; for you might 

 almost as well batter a feather-bed as the 

 body of a bear, so encased and shielded by 

 an enormous layer of fat. In our climate 

 he becomes torpid during winter, generally 

 choosing for his hybernaculum some large 

 hollow log, or a cavity beneath the root of 

 an overthrown tree. The species is nume- 

 rous in all the wooded parts of this conti- 

 nent, even to the shores of the Gulf of 

 Mexico. In the southern states he commits 

 depredations on the farmer's fields of maize: 

 when the corn is in that milky state called 

 ' roasting ears,' so prized for boiling and 

 eating as a table dish, like green peas, or 

 roasting whole on the cob, the bear manifests 

 a singular unity of taste with the farmer, 

 and devours and treads down a large quan- 

 tity, as he finds no difficulty in climbing 

 over the zig-zag rail fence. I have been 

 told that he repeats his nightly visit to the 

 same field ; and, what is singular, always, 

 on such occasions, mounts the fence, night 

 after night, at the same spot where he got 

 over the first time. The planters take ad- 

 vantage of this regular habit, by fastening 

 to the fence a heavily loaded gun at such an 

 angle that it shall point at the bear's breast 

 as he rises on his hind legs. The identical 

 crossing-place is easily known by his great 

 tracks in the soft earth. A stick is attached 

 to the trigger, and this is made fast, at right 

 angles, to a transverse stick resting on two 

 forks about breast high, a few inches outside 

 the fence. The bear rears up to put his fore- 

 paws on the rails, and in getting over presses 

 with his breast against the transverse stick, 

 which drives back the trigger, and poor 

 Bruin instantly receives the reward of his 

 dishonesty." 



The GRISLY BEAR. (Ursus /crar.) 

 The Grisly Bear is about nine feet long, and 

 is said to attain the weight of eight hundred 

 pounds. The claws are long and very strong, 

 but more adapted for digging than for 



OKISLY BBAR. (OK8C8 FBBOX.) 



climbing trees ; the muzzle Is lengthened, 

 narrowed, and flattened ; the canine teeth 

 are highly developed, exhibiting a great 

 increase of size and power ; and the eyes are 

 small and sunk in the head. Notwithstand- 

 ing its bulky and unwieldy form, it is capable 



