198 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



behind, these are so absurdly small as to appear pre* 

 mature. And then comes the old story of the little ones 

 being produced without form, and afterwards licked into 

 shape in the den. Even the Indians possess many dif- 

 ferent ideas on this subject, often affirming that the old 

 bear has never been shot and discovered to be with 

 young. Now all this is great nonsense, and as I know of 

 an instance in which a bear was shot, a few years since, 

 on the 14 th of February, suckling two very little ones in 

 an open primitive den, formed merely by a sheltering 

 windfall, and also have consulted the testimony of tra- 

 vellers on the habits of hybernating bears of other 

 descriptions, capping all by the reliable evidence of my 

 old Indian hunter, John Williams, I am convinced that 

 the following is the true state of the case : — The she- 

 bear gives birth to two cubs, of very small dimensions 

 — not much larger than good- sized rats — about the 

 middle of February, in the den ; and here she subsists 

 them, without herself obtaining any nourishment, until 

 the thaws in March. A few years ago a cub was brought 

 to me in May by a settler, who had shot the mother and 

 kidnapped one of her offspring; it was a curious little 

 animal, not much larger than a retriever pup of a few 

 weeks old, and a strange mixture of fun and ferocity. 

 The settler, as I handed him the purchase money — one 

 dollar — informed me that it was as playful as a kitten ; 

 and, having placed it on the floor, and given it a basin of 

 bread and milk, which it immediately upset — biting the 

 saucer with its teeth as though it suspected it of trying 

 to withhold or participate in the enjoyment of its con- 

 tents — it commenced to evince its playful disposition by 

 gambolling about the room, climbing the legs of tables, 



