124 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



tleman of tiic Hudson's Bay Company, with whom he was 

 travelling, came up, and drove her off. In the latter end 

 of June, 1S26, he observed a male caressing a female, and 

 soon afterwards, they both came towards him, but whether 

 accidentall}^, or for the purpose of attacking him, he was 

 uncertain. He ascended a tree, and as the female drew near, 

 fired at and mortally wounded her. She uttered a few loud 

 screams, wJiich threw the male into a violent rage, and he 

 reared up against the trunk of the tree in which Mr. Drum- 

 mond was seated, but never attempted to ascend it."* This 

 mode of escaping by ascending trees is frequently practised 

 by hunters when pursued. Two instances are related by 

 Lewis and Clark, and many others are to be found in the 

 various authors who treat of this animal, where a hunter 

 has been held a close prisoner for many hours, by the 

 infuriated animal keeping watch at the foot of the tree. 



Notwithstanding the ferocity of the Grisly Bear,itwould 

 seenijthathe iscapable of a certain degree of domestication, 

 especially when young. Governor Clinton saj's " that 

 Dixon, an Indian trader, told a friend of his, that this ani- 

 mal had been seen fourteen feet long; that notwithstanding its 

 ferocity it had been occasionally domesticated, and that an 

 Indian, belonging to a tribe on the head waters of the Mis- 

 sissippi, had one in a reclaimed state, which he sportively 

 directed to go into a canoe belonging to another tribe of In- 

 dians, then returning from a visit; the Bear obeyed, and 

 was struck by an Indian; being considered as one of the 

 family, this was deemed an insult, resented accordingly, 

 and produced a war between these nations.t 



It isalso stated in Long'sExpedition that a half-grown in- 

 dividual was kept chained in the yard of a Missouri Fur 

 Company, near Engineer Cantonment, and chiefly fed on 

 vegetable substances; as it v\'as observed, that he became 

 furious when too plentifully supplied with an animal diet. 

 lie was in continual motion during the greater part of the 

 day, pacing backwards and forwards to the extent of bis 

 chain. His attendants ventured to play with him, though 

 in a reserved manner, fearful of trusting him too far, or of 

 placing themselves absolutely within his grasp; he several 

 times broke loose from his chain, on which occasions he 

 would manifest the utmost joy, running about the yard in 

 every direction, rearing upon bis hind feet, and capering 

 about. " I was present on one of these occasions," ob- 

 serves Mr. Sa_v, "thesquaws andchildrcn belonging to the 

 establishment, ran ])recipitately to their huts and closed the 

 doors; he appeared much delighted with his temporary 

 freedom, and ran to the dogs which were straying about 

 the j'ard, but they avoided him. In his round he came to 

 me, and rearing up, placed his paws upon my breast; wish- 



* RicJianlsnn, O. C. 



t Truiis. of ihe Lit. and I'liilo?. Soc. of Mew York. 



ing to rid myself of so rough a playfellow, I turned him 

 around, upon which he ran down the bank of the river, 

 plunged into the water, and swam about for sometime."* 



Most of our Philadelphia readers must remember the 

 two young Bears of this specieswhich formerly were kept in 

 the Menagerie of Peale's Museum. These individuals were 

 procured by Pike, when on his expedition, about 1600 

 miles from the nearest American post, and kept with the in- 

 tention of presenting them to Mr. Jefferson, then president 

 of the United States. When Pike first obtained them, they 

 were carried for three or four days in the laps of his men on 

 horseback, and afterwards in cage on a mule, but were al- 

 ways let out, wherever the party halted. By this treat- 

 ment, they became extremely docile when at liberty, fol- 

 lowing the men like dogs. When well supplied with food 

 they would play like young puppies with each other and 

 the soldiers; but the instant they were shut up in their cage 

 they became cross and surly, and would worry each other 

 until they were so exhausted that they were incapable of 

 further exertion. 



Wlien Mr. Peale received them, they were about a year 

 old, and tolerably docile, but soon gave indications of the 

 natural ferocity of their species. " As they increased in 

 size they became exceedingly dangerous, seizing and tear- 

 ing to pieces everj' animal they could lay hold of, and ex- 

 pressing extreme eagerness to get at those accidentally 

 broughtwithin sight of their cage, b}^ grasping the iron bars 

 with their paws and shaking them violently, to the great 

 terror of spectators, who felt insecure while witnessing such 

 displays of their strength. In one instance an unfortunate 

 monkey was walking over the top of their cage, when the 

 end of the chain which hungfrom hiswaistdropped through 

 within reach of the Bears; they immediately seized it, 

 dragged the screaming animal thiough the narrow aper- 

 ture, tore him limb from limb, and devoured liis mangled 

 carcass almost instantaneously. At another time a small 

 monkey thrust his arm through an opening in the cage to 

 reach some object; one of them immediately seized him, 

 and with a sudden jerk, tore the whole arm and shoulder- 

 blade from the body, and devoured it before any one could 

 interfere. They were still cubs, and very little more than 

 half grown, when their ferocity became so alarming as to 

 excite continual apprehension lest they should escape, and 

 they were killed in order to prevent such an event, "t 

 Their skins were ably prepared, and now form part of the 

 interesting collection in the Philadelphia Museum. 



There is also a full grown specimen in tiic Tower of Lon- 

 don, which was presented to George the HI., about seven- 

 teen years since, by the Hudson's Bay Company. This 



* liOng's Exppdilioii To tho Rocky MountaiiiF, \'ol. 

 t Godnuin's IVal. Hist. Vol. 1. p. 133. 



. p. >Ji\ 



