U. ornatus (P. Cuvier), the Spectacled Bear, inhabits the Cordilleras of the Andes in Chile. Its fur is smooth, shining, and black, with the following exceptions :—Its short muzzle is of a dirty yellow or buff colour, and there are two semicircular marks of the same hue, remind ing the observer of a pair of spectacles, above the eyes ; the under parts of the throat and neck and the upper part of the breast are whitish.
U. ferox (Danis ferox, Gray), the Grizzle Bear of Umfreville, Grisly Bear of Mackenzie, Grizzly Bear of Warden, Ursus cinereus of Desmarest, Ursus horribilis of Say, Meeshch Musquaw or Meechee Musquaw of the ere° Indians, and Ursus ferox (Lewis and Clarke, who first accurately described the animal, calling it often the White Bear), is nearly double the size of the Black Bear. Cuvier however, in spite of its size, regarded it as a variety of U. Aretos. Lewis and Clarke give the measurement of one as 9 feet from the nose to the tail, and state that they had seen one of larger dimensions. Eight hundred pounds is reported to be the weight to which it attains. The length of the fore foot in one of those measured by the travellers above quoted is given as exceeding 9 inches, that of the hind foot at without the talons, and the breadth 7 inches. The claws of the fore feet, which are a good deal longer and less curved than those of the hind feet, measured in another individual more than G inches. This part of its organisation is well adapted for .digging, but not for climbing, and the adult Grisly Bear is said not to ascend trees. The muzzle is lengthened, narrowed, and flattened, and the canine teeth are highly developed, exhibiting a great increase of size and power. The tail is very small, and so entirely lost in the hair which covers the buttocks, that it is a standing joke among the Indian hunters, as Sir John Richardson observes, when they have killed a Grisly Bear, to desire any one unacquainted with tho animal to take hold of its tail. The fur, or rather hair is abundant, long, and varying through most of the intermediate gradations between grey and blackish brown, which last is prevalent and more or less grizzled. On the muzzle it is pale and short, on the legs it is darker and coarser. The eyes are small and rather sunk in the head.
Unwieldy as this animal appears, it is capable of great rapidity of motion, and its strength is overpowering. The bison contends in vain with the Grisly Bear. The conqueror drags the enormous carcass (weighing about 1000 lbs.) to a chosen place, digs a pit for its recep tion, and repairs to it till the exhausted store compels him to renew the chase. And yet he will be satisfied with fruits and roots ; and on his diet depends the aggravated or mitigated ferocity of his disposi tion. This animal is very tenacious of life. The long claws are strung intermediate between the Sloth Bear (Prochibm labia, us) end the Malayan Bear (('rani 411alayanta). Mr. Bennett, in Lie ' Tower Menagerie,' gives n figure and description of one which was brought from Sumatra, and could not be prevailed on to touch flesh either raw or cooked, bread and fruits forming his only food. In his disposition Ire was moderately tame, and particularly fond of play.
U. leabellimm, Isabella-coloured Bear.—Dr. Ilorsfield first described this species from a skin forwarded from the mountains of Nepnul. The skull bad been removed, but the front teeth in both jaws and the claws remained.
into necklaces, and highly prized by the Indians as trophies of their prowess.
The following account of the habits of the Grisly Bear is given by Sir Johu ItichanLion :—" A party of voyagers who had been employed all day in tracking a canoe up the Saskatchewan had seated themselves in the twilight by a fire, and wore busy in preparing their supper, when a large grisly boar sprang over the canoe that was tilted behind them, and seizing one of the party by the shoulder carried him off. The rest fled in terror, with the exception of a motif named Bourasso, who, grasping his gun, followed the bear as it was retreating leisurely with its prey. lie called to his unfortunate comrade that he was
afraid of hitting him if he fired at the bear, but the latter entreated him to fire immediately, without hesitation, as the bear was squeezing him to death. On this he took a deliberate aim, and discharged his piece into the body of the bear, who instantly dropped its prey to pursue 13012r113.90. lie escaped with difficulty, and the boar ultimately retreated to a thicket, where it was supposed to have died ; but the curiosity of the party not being a match for their fears the fact of its decease was not ascertained. The man who was rescued had his arm fractured, and was otherwise severely bitten, but finally recovered. I have seen Bourasso, and can add that the account which he gives is fully credited by the traders resident in that part of the country, who are best qualified to judge of its truth from their knowledge of the parties!. I have been told that there is a num now living in the neighbourhood of Edmonton-hou.se who was attacked by a grisly bear, which sprang out of a thicket, and with one stroke of its paw com pletely scalped him, laying bare the skull, and bringing the skin of the forehead down over the eyes. Assistance coming up, the bear made off without doing him further injury, but the scalp not being replaced the poor man has lost his sight, although he thinks his eyes are uninjured. Mr. Drummond, in his excursions over the Rocky Mountains, had frequent opportunities of observing the manners of the grisly bears, and it often happened that in turning the point of a rock or sharp angle of a valley lie came suddenly upon one or more of them. On such occasions they reared on their hind legs, and made a loud noise like a person breathing quick, but much harsher. lie kept his ground, without attempting to molest them ; and they on their part, after attentively regarding him for some time, generally wheeled round and galloped off; though, from their known disposition, there is little doubt but he would have been torn in pieces had he lost his presence of mind and attempted to fly. When he discovered them from a distance he generally frightened them away by beating on a large tin-box in which ho carried his specimens of plants. Ho never saw more than four together, and two of these he supposes to have been cubs ; lie more often met them singly, or in pairs. Ile was only once attacked, and then by a female, for the purpose of allowing her cubs to escape. His gun on this occasion missed fire, but ho kept her at bay with the stock of it until some gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company, with whom he was travelling at the time, came up and drove her off. In the latter end of June, 182(3, lie observed a male caressing a female, and soon afterwards they both came towards him, but whether accidentally or for the purpose of attacking him he was uncertain. lie ascended a tree, and as the female drew near fired at and mortally wounded her. Sho uttered a few loud screams, which threw the male into a furious rage, and be reared up against the trunk of the tree in which Mr. Drummond was seated, but never attempted to ascend it. The female in the meanwhile retiring to a short distance, lay down, and as the male was proceeding to join her Mr. Drummond shot him also. From the size of their teeth and claws he judged them to be about four years old. The cubs of a grisly bear can climb trees, but when the animal is fully grown it is unable to do so, as the Indians report, from the form of its claws." Tho Rocky Mountains, and the plains to the eastward of them, particularly, according to 31r. Drummond, the districts which are interspersed with open prairies and grassy hills, are the chief haunts of the Grisly Bears. To the north they have been observed as far as 61 of latitude, and it is supposed that they are to be found still farther.' To the south it is said that they extend as far as Mexico. There are three young specimens of this animal at present (1853) in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park.