168 NATURAL HISTORY. 



going, with any safety or comfort, into permanent winter quarters. With regard to the hibernating 

 Bears a very remarkable fact is mentioned by Sir J. Richardson, who is a most cautious and accurate 

 writer, namely, that when the Bear " comes abroad in the spring it is equally fat " (as it was at the 

 commencement of winter), " though in a few days thereafter it becomes very lean." 



The Indians have an unbounded reverence for the Bear. When they kill one, they make excul- 

 patory speeches to it, give it tobacco to smoke, call it their relation, grandmother, &c., and try in every 

 possible way to appease its manes. They then cook and eat it with great gusto. 



GRIZZLY BEAR. 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR.* 



This animal, which inhabits the region of the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico, is the 

 most savage member of the whole family, and is more dreaded by Indian and Canadian trappers than 

 any other. It is stated to attain a length of nine feet and a weight of eight hundred pounds, so that 

 it greatly exceeds the Brown and Black Bears in size, and approaches in these respects to the Polar 

 Bear. Its strength is enormous. " It has been known to drag to a considerable distance the carcass of 

 a Buffalo, weighing about one thousand pounds." 



The fur is of a dark-brown colour, with a good deal of grey on the head, and is of an inferior 



* Ursus ferox. 





