170 DIVISIllX I. VERTEBRAL AXHIALS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



also tlii-oiigli Xoi-tlicrn Europe and AkI;!. Tlie Laplanders were, and arc 

 now, in tlie liuliit of saying, that tiic hear lias the sense of twelve men and 

 the strength of ten, and thcnee ealled it the " Dog of God." They never 

 venture to speak its jiroper name, for fear that it may do them some injury in 

 revcn-'C, but eall it the "old gentlein;ui in the fiu- cloak." 



The Indians hold the opinion that the spirits of the bears they have slain 

 still animate the substantial or shadowy forms of men ; have mysterious 

 powers of mischief and beneficence, which should be deprecated or invoked 

 by ofterings, prayers, and other ceremonies, such as smoking tobacco over 

 the body as soon as one is slain in the chase, breathing the smoke into its 

 nostrils, calling upon its spirit aloud, or by whispering into its ears, depre- 

 cating wrath for having made it a victim, and imploring its good will during 

 the hunting season, dancing in its honor, and otherwise striving to pro2>itiate 

 its favor. 



Tlie Indian also often regarded the bear as the progenitor of his tribe, and 

 conse([nently paid him almost divine honors. Distinguished warriors frequent- 

 ly assumed iiis name, as was indeed the case in the north of Eurojic. The 

 Scandinavian Biorn and the English and French Biron, borne liy so many 

 heroes and grandees, are synonymes of the Latin Ursus — lnnr. 



Pennant, the Welsh naturalist, gives an interesting and very amusing 

 account of the manner in which the Indians hunt this animal. "A jirincipal 

 ■\varrior first gives a general in\itation to all the hunters. This is followed 

 l)y a most serious fast of eight daj's, a total abstinence from all kinds of 

 food : notwithstanding which, they pass the day in continual song. Tliis 

 they do to invito the spirits of the woods to direct them to the places where 

 there is abundance of bears. They e\en cut the llesh in divci's jiarts of their 

 bodies, to render the spirits more propitious. They also address themselves 

 to the iiKiiirs of the beasts slain in preceding chases, as if it were to direct 

 them iu their dreams to plenty of game. One dreamer alone cannot de- 

 termine the place of the chase ; numbers must conciu' ; jjut as they tell each 

 other their dreams, they never fail to agree, — whether that may arise from 

 complaisance, or by a real agreement in the dreamers, from their thoughts 

 being turned perpetually on the same thing. 



"The chief of the huntsmen gives a great feast, at which none dares to 

 appear without first bathing. At this entertainment they eat with great 

 moderation, contrary to their usual custom. The master of the feast himself 

 touches nothing, but is employed in relating to the guests ancient tales of 

 wonderful feats in former chases ; fresh invocations to the manes of the 

 deceased bears conclude the whole. Tiiey then sally forth amidst the accla- 

 mations of llie village, equipped as if for war, and painted black. iMcry 

 able hunter is on a level with a irreat warrior : he must \ia\c killed his dozen 



