IN THE FAR WKST. 55 



larger and fiercer than the black, but such is not my expe- 

 rience, for the largest one of the former that I saw killed 

 did not exceed five hundred pounds in weight, and I knew 

 several of the black variety found in Alaska to turn the 

 scales at six hundred pounds. Some hunters in the 

 Rocky Mountain region call the grizzly the cinnamon bear, 

 when its pelage becomes somewhat light in hue at certain 

 seasons, but it is not generally called so, as it is an 

 easy matter to distinguish between both species. The 

 common cinnamon variety is not, in my opinion, any more 

 inclined to be fierce than the black, and I have yet to see 

 the first man who has been attacked by it without provo- 

 cation. A further proof of the three varieties being one 

 species may be deduced from the fact that their claws are of 

 the same form and length, that their fur is of the same texture 

 and length under the same circumstances, and that the flesh 

 of one tastes exactly like that of the other, all things being 

 equal. I have been explicit in making these statements be- 

 cause some writers, and even some experienced hunters, havn 

 assumed that the cinnamon is a modified grizzly, and is equally 

 as dangerous and as ready to fight without cause. My expe- 

 rience of it is, however, that it has the same habits as its 

 black congener ; that it is no more dangerous ; and that it 

 will flee from the presence of man unless it is wounded, very 

 hungry, or labouring under the excitement of the rutting 

 season ; and even then a lusty shout is liable to scatter a 

 regiment of its tribe. 



The American bear has forty-two teeth, and I have heard 

 or read that it has one tooth more than the European species. 

 It is naturally sluggish in character, and keeps to the densest 

 parts of the woods, where the shrubbery is most profuse. Its 

 usual haunts are caverns or hollow trees, and in these retreats 

 it passes away a large portion of its time in dozing and sleep- 

 ing. It is ever on the alert for foes, however, and unless the 

 hunter approaches its lair from the leeward, he is liable to be 

 detected by the apparent sluggard. It is omnivorous in taste, 

 and it seems to matter little to it whether it eats ants, grubs, 

 eggs, berries, roots, grapes and fruit generally,, or mice, moles, 



