G GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 375 
not an ounce less than 500 lbs., and probably weighed 
20re ; while there are from time to time black bear skins in 
_ the warehouses of Mr. Boscowitz, the principal fur-dealer in 
; - Victoria, which would measure nearly g ft. from end to end 
_ (if allowance were made for the mask beyond the eyes), and 
ies) ft. from side to side below the arms. 
_ In 1891 I measured in this store a black bear’s skin which 
__ did not seem unduly stretched, the length of which was, to the 
__ best of my recollection, 8 ft. 6 ins. from eyes to tail, or 8 ft. 
_ Io ins. as measured. 
Amongst the skins for sale by Messrs. C. M. Lampson & 
___ Co., at their small summer sale, June 12, 1893, at which I was 
_ told that the black bear skins were small, I measured one 
_ skin 93 ins. from eyes to tail, and one of the employés of 
____ the house assured me that a black bear skin measuring 8 ft. 
_ 6 ins. was not uncommon. 
Before leaving the subject of bears altogether, I should 
like to refer to an extraordinary skin which I saw among 
_ Mr. Boscowitz’s consignments from the upper country last 
year. In size this skin is considerably larger than the average 
bear hide ; the colour of it is white, with a few straw-coloured 
patches (little more than a few hairs in each) on the head and 
about the rump. The paws.and claws of the animal were attached 
_ to the skin, and from the jaws and skin of the head I should 
_ imagine that the beast had a long shallow head like a black 
_ bear’s, though the skin is more like the skin of a Polar in 
summer season, except that whereas other bear hides are of 
hair, this is distinctly woolly, more like the fleece of a sheep 
than the hide of a bear. 
_ I am informed that this skin was sent to Mr. Rowland 
_Ward’s. The bear was killed on one of the inlets of the 
north-west coast, and is the only one of the kind ever seen in 
_ our British Columbia fur market. 
