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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



a while I got in another shot, and the 

 old bear went somersaults down the 

 snow slide, much to the horror of the 

 cub, which took one look and made for 

 the den. 



Here Alfred followed her, and, with a 

 ; great deal of trouble, managed to catch 

 fier by the ears and carry her squealing 

 •and fighting out of the hole. We made 

 a collar of my gun sling and led her 

 down to where the old bear had stopped, 

 and then the heavy work of skinning 

 began. It takes from one to three hours 

 to do this job, and I for one was tired 

 when we got back to camp at half-past 7. 



Alfred had packed the skin, which, 

 though not as large as many we got 

 later, weighed 105 pounds, and I led the 

 cub until she gave out, and then packed 

 her the last mile to camp in my coat. 

 After this she and the two others which 

 we caught later lived in the cook tent 

 with the boys, and soon learned to be 

 decent members of society when left 

 quite alone. 



When we first caught them we had a 

 good deal of trouble to make the cubs 

 eat. We had neither the time nor the 

 ingenuity to devise a makeshift nursing- 

 bottle, and condensed milk was too much 

 of a luxury to give it to them as a reg- 

 ular diet. This first cub, Fritzi, was the 

 hardest to teach. At first she would 

 slap a dish or spoon out of our hands, 

 or else bite it and pull it away, so we 

 made a thin oatmeal gruel with a good- 

 •deal of milk and, holding a spoonful just 

 out of reach, waited until the baby's rage 

 got the better of her and she opened her 

 mouth and wailed. Then a well-aimed 

 toss sent a spoonful of gruel into her 

 mouth, and she had to swallow it. It 

 was a long process, but I cannot give any 

 idea of how funny it was, as the noises 

 and antics of this half-human baby are 

 not to be described. After a while, by 

 dint of much coaxing, the cubs learned 

 how good the food was, and after that 

 the mere sight of a dish was enough to 

 set them squealing. J n fact, when we 

 were at meals, Fritzi would tease to be 

 fed, and would wail most dismally if no 

 notice were taken of her. 



Luckily for all concerned, the men 

 were devoted to the cubs ; in fact, the 

 suggestion that they live in the cook 

 tent came from them, and the extra work 

 for all of us caused no grumbling in 

 camp. The cubs, Fritzi, Pauline, and 

 Little Willie, kept well and healthy 

 throughout the trip, and I think the boys 

 were all very sorry when it came time to 

 set sail for civilization and start the 

 "babies" on their long journey to the 

 bear dens of the National Zoological 

 Park at Washington, where they now 

 seem to be quite happy and absolutely at 

 home. 



THE ALASKAN BROWN BEAR 



MR WILFRID H. OSGOOD, of 

 the U. S. Biological Survey, 

 gives the following account of the Alas- 

 kan bears in the last Yearbook of the 

 Department of Agriculture : 



Alaska is without a rival in respect to 

 the number and the variety of its bears. 

 They belong to four general types : the 

 brown bears, the grizzlies, the black 

 bears, and the polar bears. 



The brown bears are the most numer- 

 ous and most important. They are of 

 huge size, being much larger than the 

 grizzlies and all other bears except the 

 polar bear and their own relatives of 

 Kamchatka. Therefore the statement, 

 often made, that they are the largest car- 

 nivorous animals in the world needs little, 

 if any, qualification. They are confined 

 almost exclusively to the coast region, 

 ranging from Bering Sea throughout the 

 Alaska Peninsula and some outlying 

 islands, and thence south along the Pa- 

 cific coast nearly or quite to British Co- 

 lumbia. Their color varies greatly, 

 ranging from dark seal brown to buffy 

 brown, the feet, legs, and underparts 

 usually being darker than the shoulders 

 and back. Although the ends of the 

 hairs are often paler than the bases, the 

 silver-tipped effect of the grizzlies is 

 wanting. The front claws are shorter, 

 thicker, and more abruptly curved than 

 in the grizzlies. 



It is often said that the brown bears 



