BRUIN'S CARCASS. 31 



obtained too much food for thought to quit the real 

 for the ideal. 



When sufficiently light I carefully examined the 

 dead animal. Its size for a moment caused me dis- 

 appointment, for in the darkness in which the struggle 

 had taken place I had fancied that I had never 

 before seen its equal in magnitude. The first shot 

 was well placed, possibly a little too far forward, for 

 a bear's heart is situated well back in the carcass. 

 Nevertheless, after the lapse of a short time it must 

 have proved fatal. The second shot was placed so 

 admirably that, under the most favourable circum- 

 stance, I could not have fired with a more thoroughly 

 destructive aim. Entering between the junction of the 

 lower ribs the bullet had ranged upwards, bearing to 

 the left, and splitting the heart in two. Both were 

 snap-shots, but the range was so short that room for 

 missing was scarcely allowed : so little credit is due 

 to me on this occasion for skill in marksmanship. 



Four hundred and fifty pounds I should suppose 

 was quite as much as this bear weighed, but he was 

 much out of condition. If the season had been the fall 

 instead of early spring, twenty per cent at least might 

 have been calculated as its probable weight. The 

 colour of its hair was a light tawny-brown, which 

 almost induced me for the moment to adopt the 

 mistaken hypothesis that the cinnamon bear ( Ursus 

 cinnamomus) is only a variety of the grizzly bear 

 (Ursus ferox). 



I am aware that both mammals and fishes will 



