54 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



CHAPTER 111. 

 THE BLACK BEAK. 



The black bear Different varieties Their haunts, habits, and general 

 characteristics Affection of mothers tor their cubs Gravid females 

 never seen Migrations of the bear Character of its flesh Its game 

 qualities Abundance of the animal in the West The best dogs for 

 chasing it How to hunt it Its acutem-ss of nose and expertness in 

 swimming Captured by steamers frequently in L'uget Sound Why 

 it is not hunted much A hunt with Indians The scenes and inci- 

 dents of a potlatch Capture of several bears Tripped up while 

 stalking a male Explosion of gun A rude raft, a wild ride, and a 

 collision with a barricade A bad ducking I kill a bear and receive 

 a bad wound in the arm A canoe trip and a hard bump Reach cam]) 

 and have my wound dressed Return of the hunters An Indian 

 festival How Indians cook young bears I am mistaken for a bear 

 by hunters, and shot at Anecdotes of men attacked by bears A bear 

 hunt which results in being treed The release, and death of the 

 besieger How a doctor captured a bear Water rcr/siiti courage A 

 public singer and an imaginary bear The remuneration given lot- 

 keeping his adventure silent. 



THE black bear (Ursus Arnencanus] is found all over the 

 United States, but it is more abundant in the wooded regions 

 beyond the Rocky Mountains than in any other part of the 

 world; so he who would revel in bear hunts to his heart's 

 content should seek that country, and spend a season amid 

 its extensive forests and towering 1 mountain ranges. There are 

 supposed to be two or three speeies of this animal in the AVest, 

 but so far as 1 could learn they are all one, the only difference 

 between them being confined to variety of hue, and this is 

 undoubtedly the result of climate and Jtabitxl. 



I have seen on more than one occasion dams accompanied by 

 cubs which displayed distinct colours, some being black, others 

 brown, or a dark cinnamon, and even a piebald colour is not 

 uncommon in some sections of the countrv. 



The cinnamon bear is thought b\- manv persons to be 



