14 MAMMALOGY. 



gratification of the prisoner. It is a mistake to suppose that this 

 bear does not climb, though apparently not very expert at it. It 

 ascends the oaks in search of acorns, and will sometimes break off 

 large branches. Dr. Marsh does not consider it by any means a 

 dangerous animal, though possessing such great strength. The gait 

 of the individual seen by myself was exceedingly clumsy, and well 

 justified the common proverb, yet it made out to get over the ground 

 with considerable rapidity. Sometimes, it is said, three, four, or a 

 larger number are seen feeding together like so many horses. 



"No one, it is confidently asserted, has ever seen a gravid female 

 bear, and the young are unusually small in proportion to the size of 

 the adult animal. Formerly, according to Dr. Marsh, the Grizzly 

 Bear was very abundant in California, so much so, that it was to be 

 found in almost every valley ; and in travelling, the Indians kept on 

 the hills and other high ground, very carefully avoiding the favorite 

 resorts of this animal. 



" This bear feeds on acorns and other fruits, and is said also to dig 

 up the roots of the Tula [Scirpus lacustris). It is also said to feed at 

 times on grass." 



Mr. Peale's observations on this animal are as follows : 



" It is curious that this animal should not be found on the Columbia 

 River near its mouth. In our journey south through Oregon, the first 

 seen were on the Umpqua River, from which they seemed to increase 

 in numbers until we arrived in California. Six were killed in one day 

 by our hunters as we descended the Sacramento River, although their 

 meat was not wanted ; elk, deer, and antelopes being plentiful and 

 affording much better food, unless the bear is very fat, which was not 

 then the case. This destruction arose from a dislike to the animal 

 justly considered the most dangerous on the continent. 



" The principal food of the Grizzly Bear in California, is acorns, 

 which are abundant and appear to be very nutritious ; the Indians 

 subsisting in a great measure on the same kind of food. Both Indians 

 and bears ascend the trees to thrash down the acorns, which is about 

 as effectually done by the one as the other. From the accounts of pre- 

 vious travellers, it has been supposed that the Grizzly Bear could not 

 climb : it will not perhaps attack a person who has retreated for safety 

 to a tree, but it certainly does sometimes climb and shakes the acorns 

 from the trees, as we had frequent opportunities of witnessing the 

 traces of destruction left, and there is little difficulty in distinguishing 



