MAMMALS OF NOETHER]^ CANADA 223 



factorily for the recurring seasons of exceptional scarcity 

 of bears in certain regularly-occupied tracts. If the bears 

 perished by disease, or even starved to death — a very unusual 

 occurrence — they think that they should sometimes come 

 across their remains in their many hunting peregrinations, 

 if only for the reason that relics of a badly wounded animal 

 are almost invariably discovered sooner or later in the vicinity 

 of the locality where it was shot. Migration, therefore, 

 seems the most reasonable solution of the difficulty. Re- 

 marks as to food, habits, and distribution, but not numbers, 

 made under this heading are equally applicable to U. cinna- 

 moneiis, the skins of which are usually described as "brown" 

 in the Company's lists. 



For the reasons already given under U. horribilis, I am 

 unable to show the quantities of each color sold in London 

 for the period from 1853 to 1878, but with the aid of the 

 following data a fairly correct estimate of the proportion of 

 black and brown bears collected in the northern districts, at 

 least, may be formed, namely: From 1863 to 1883, Mac- 

 kenzie River District furnished a total of 906 black and 

 571 brown, and for 1886, 1887, and 1889, 1,67-8 black and 

 183 brown skins. The posts of old Athabasca produced 712 

 black and 70 brown in outfit 1889. Then come the London 

 catalogues for 1902, with 7,087 black and 161 brown, and 

 1903, with 6,444 black and 246 brown: bears. In the twenty- 

 five years' statement, all the bears are grouped together under 

 one heading, and they aggregate a total of 200,042, or an 

 average of nearly 8,002 a year. The bear returns for the 

 two years 1902 and 1903 are only 143 skins below this 

 average, while the competition in the fur trade during the 

 last three decades has been far and away the greatest in its 

 history since the coalition with the Northwest Company in 

 1821. For twenty-seven years, from 1858 to 1884, inclusive, 

 Athabasca District's quota to the London sales was 13,997 

 assorted bears. This total would have been upward of 2,000 

 larger but for the transfer in 1878 of the posts of Battle 



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