BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 355 



arched or curved to be typical ; whilst in colour, all those which 

 I have seen were a light brown or slate colour growing white 

 towards the tips. A bear shot by me in the Hope Mountains 

 is a good illustration of the strange varieties which sometimes 

 arise from crosses between black bear and grizzly. This little 

 fellow would have weighed about 350 Ibs. live weight, and was 

 a full-grown bear when killed. His head was a typical black 

 bear's as far as shape went, and he had not a distinctly marked 

 ' lift ' or hump at the shoulder ; his claws were very light 

 coloured (almost white) ; his face and shoulders were a rich 

 straw colour, fading into a very light grey towards the rump, 

 whilst his arms, belly, cheeks and ears were a deep rich brown, 

 almost black in places. 



The Indians said he was a grizzly ; the trapper who was with 

 me called him a cinnamon ; a friend who wished to belittle my 

 bear said he was only 'a rum-coloured black and a little one at 

 that.' I only venture to suggest that he was ' very much mixed.' 



But perhaps I have already said too much upon this point, 

 and I will therefore only pause to add this significant fact. No 

 cinnamon or other similar variety seems to be found where 

 both black and grizzly do not exist together. For example, 

 upon Vancouver Island, no grizzly has ever been heard of, no 

 cinnamon has ever been reported, but black bears swarm. The 

 same, I believe, may be said of the island of Anticosti, and 

 elsewhere. In habits bears differ, of course, considerably, and 

 yet even here the points in which they resemble one another 

 are more numerous than those in which they differ. 



All bears appear to be omnivorous, but the grizzly is said 

 to be more of a flesh-eater than t/rsus americanus. Perhaps 

 he is. No doubt he dearly loves to gorge himself upon a 

 carcase, and he does occasionally kill a weak beast or a young 

 one for himself ; but like his cousin he is a great vegetarian, 

 grubbing up roots and devouring berries by the gallon. But a 

 black bear is not by any means a total abstainer from meat 

 diet, more especially if that meat be pork ; indeed, if the pig 

 needs killing, and the farmer neglects to play the butcher, the 



