BEAR-HUNTS, ETC. 191 
zardous, and its chase has been considered 
by the rude inhabitants of the Northern re- 
gions as a matter of the highest importance. 
Many of the native tribes of America will 
not join the chase until they have propitiated 
the whole race of Bears by certain speeches 
and ceremonies; and, when the animal is 
slain, they treat it with the utmost respect, 
speak of it as a relation, offer it a pipe to 
smoke, and seldom fail to make a speech in 
exculpation of the act of violence they have 
committed in slaying it, although the hunter, 
at the same time, glories in his prowess. 
This veneration for the Bear seems to have 
arisen from the ability and pertinacity with 
which it defends itself; and it is interesting 
to observe in how similar a manner the same 
feeling manifests itself in tribes speaking di- 
verse languages, and widely separated from 
each other by geographical position. Thus 
Regnard informs us, that the chase of the 
Bear is the most solemn action of the Lap- 
lander, and the successful hunter may be 
known by, and exults in, the number of 
tufts of Bear’s hair he wears in his bonnet. 
When the retreat of a Bear is discovered, 
