130 SNOW BEAE OF CASHMERE. 



country. Possibly the different appearance 

 of the animal at different seasons of the 

 year, and the various shades of colour in 

 different individuals, may have given rise to 

 this opinion. A slightly different species, 

 however, is found in and about Cashmere ; 

 of a reddish-brown colour, with a longer 

 snout. It is very savage, and is, I imagine, 

 the animal that is exhibited in the plains as 

 " the dancing bear." 



In spring the fur of the snow bear is long 

 and shaggy, of various shades of a yellowish 

 brown ; in some approaching to a silvery 

 gray, and in others deepening to a red- 

 dish brown. If the skins of two that had 

 run into opposite extremes as to colour, 

 were laid before a closet student of natural 

 history, he would be apt to declare them as 

 of different varieties. In summer the long- 

 yellow fur falls off, and is replaced by a 

 much shorter and darker-coloured coat, 

 which gradually grows longer and lighter 

 as winter draws nigh. The females are 

 generally the lightest coloured, and the cubs 



