ORDER V. THE CARNIVORA. 183 



was directed to drawing anotlier object, a strong breathing over his shoulder 

 made him turn round, when he perceived tliat the yellow bear was standing 

 uiirigiit behind him, gazing curiously at the drawing on which the colonel 

 Avas engaged. 



It would appear, however, that in the remote regions of the United 

 States, the conunon black bear is occasionally found not only of a cinnamon 

 color, but sometimes CAcn white. Tanner gives us the following account : 

 " .Shortly after this I killed an old she-bear, which was perfectly white. 

 She had four cubs ; one white, with red eyes and red nails, like herself, 

 one red, and two black. In size, and other respects, she was the same as 

 the common black bear ; but she had nothing black about her but the skin 

 of her lips. The fur of this kind is very fine, but not so highly valued by 

 the traders as the red. The old one was very tame, and I shot her without 

 difficulty ; two of the young ones I shut in the hole, and two escaped into 

 a tree. 



"I iiad but just shot them, when there came along three men, attracted, 

 probably, liy my gun. As these men were \ery hungry, I took them home 

 with me, fed them, and gave them each a piece of meat to carry home. 

 Next day I chased another bear into a low poplar tree ; but my gun being 

 a poor one, I could not shoot him. 



"A few days after, as I was hunting, I started, at the same moment, an 

 elk and three young bears ; the latter ran into a tree. I shot at the young- 

 bears, and two of them fell. As I thouglit one or both must only be 

 wounded, I sprang towards the root of the tree, but had scarcely reached it 

 when I saw the old she-bear coming in another direction. .She caught up 

 the cub which had fallen near her, and, raising it with her paws, while she 

 stood on her hind feet, holding it as a woman holds her child, she looked at 

 it for a moment, smelled the ball-hole, which was in its belly, and, perceiv- 

 ing it was dead, dashed it down, and came directly towards me, gnashing 

 her teeth, and walking so erect that her head stood as high as mine. All 

 this was so sudden, that I scarce reloaded my gun ; having only time to 

 raise it, and fire, as she came within reach of the muzzle. I was now made 

 to feel the necessity of a lesson the Indians had taught me, and which I 

 very rarely neglected ; that is, to think of nothing else before loading it 

 again." 



U. oniafns. — The Spectacled Bear. This animal inhaljits the great 

 mountain range which extends througli the wliole South American Conti- 

 nent, and is about three tcct six inches in length. It is the most beautiful 

 of the bear family. Its characters are a black, shining, and smooth fur ; a 

 yellowish muzzle ; a semicircle of the same color, rising from the forehead, 

 encompassing the eyes, and a light-colored patch on the throat. The species 



