x THE BEAR 199 



Thirty-five years ago, I was in a wild portion of the Pyrenees, 

 in the hope of finding bears at the first snows of winter, when by 

 extreme bad luck a fall took place so suddenly and severe that a 

 pass was blocked, which prevented my arrival at a narrow valley, 

 between the lofty mountains named Tram-Saig. I had been 

 assured that the bears would hybernate at the commencement of 

 winter, and that they could only be found at the season when the 

 first snow-fall would expose their tracks. 



On the following day I managed to get through the pass, and 

 to my intense disgust, upon arrival, I found that I was a day too 

 late, as the Maire, who was a great chasseur, had killed two bears, 

 a mother and half-grown young one, on the preceding day, thus 

 verifying the information I had received. 



I saw the freshly killed skins pegged out to dry, and a few 

 days later I ate a portion of the paws in an excellent stew when 

 dining with the Prefect of Bagneres-de-Bigorre, to whom they were 

 forwarded as an esteemed present. 



The larger bear-skin gave me the impression that the original 

 owner must have been the size of a heifer twelve or fifteen months 

 old. This was the ordinary brown bear of Europe, which still 

 exists in Transylvania, Hungary, Italy, and especially in Turkey. 

 The same bear inhabits Asia Minor, and both these varieties 

 hybernate at the commencement of winter. In the extensive 

 forests and mountains about Sabanja, beyond the Gulf of Ismid, I 

 have seen the wild fruit trees severely injured by the brown bears, 

 which ascend in search of cherries, plums, apples, walnuts, and 

 sweet chestnuts. The heavy animal knows full well that the 

 extremity of the boughs will not support its weight, it therefore 

 stands erect upon a strong limb and tears down the smaller fruit- 

 laden branches within its reach. Although bears are numerous 

 throughout the forests, there is only one season when they can be 

 successfully hunted ; this is in late autumn, when the fruits are 

 closing their maturity, and the apples and nuts are falling to the 

 ground. The bears then descend from the mountain heights, and 

 may be found late in the evening or before sunrise in the neighbour- 

 hood of such food. 



Asia Minor and Syria possess two distinct varieties of bears, 

 although the countries are closely connected, and these animals are 

 not inhabitants of the same district. The Syrian bear is smaller 

 than the ordinary brown bear, and would hardly exceed 300 Ibs. 

 in weight. The fur is a mixed and disagreeable colour, a dusky 

 gray of somewhat rusty appearance, but blanched in portions as 

 though by age. This species is to be found at the present day 



