cca te ache a mre ten ede SA SRS setae Re gf ca i i ns imran st Mareen la Na i Re ee ee eee eee Saas pe oe Paria comme geting NP wr nto case eres Nalerat v= SESE gage cad aie oe Smithsonian Institution Libraries iy ‘) GIFT OF Marcia B a Tucker ¥ae = FAUNA BOREALI-AMERICANA ; OR THE Ze OL O G Y. oF THE NORTHERN PARTS OF BRITISH AMERICA: CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE OBJECTS OF NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTED ON THE LATE NORTHERN LAND EXPEDITIONS, UNDER COMMAND OF CAPTAIN SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, R.N. BY CL JOHN RICHARDSON, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. MEMBER OF THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, AND FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS, more SURGEON AND NATURALIST TO THE EXPEDITIONS, AS SLSTED BY t WILLIAM §WAINSON, Esq., F.R.S., F.LS., &. AND Tue Reverenp WILLIAM KIRBY, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. > es ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS PLATES. PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COLONIAL AFFAIRS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. MDCCCXXIX, Pa I LONDON PRINTED BY WILLAM CLOWES, _STAMFORD-STREET. Fe 2 FAUNA BOREALI-AMERICANA. PART FIRST, CONTAINING THE QUADRUPEDS. BY JOHN RICHARDSON, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., &e. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD VISCOUNT GODERICH, THE FOLLOWING WORK, UNDERTAKEN UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF HIS LORDSHIP, 1S, BY PERMISSION, INSCRIBED WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT, BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, JOHN RICHARDSON. INTRODUCTION. . Tue objects of Natural History collected by the last Overland Expedition to the Polar Sea, under the command of Captain Sir John Franklin, to which I was attached as Surgeon and Naturalist, being too numerous for a detailed account of them to be comprised within the ordinary limits of an Appendix to the narrative of the proceedings of the journey, I was desirous of making them known to the world in a separate work. As it was necessary, however, in order to render such a publication useful, that many of the subjects, particularly in the Ornithological and Botanical parts, should be illus- trated by figures, the expense would have been an insurmountable difficulty, had not His Majesty’s Government, actuated by a most laudable desire of encouraging science, lent a liberal aid to the under- taking. On an application, which had the approval of the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, the Treasury granted one thousand pounds, to be applied solely towards defraying the expense of the engravings. A moiety of that sum has been allotted to the illustration of the Quadrupeds and Birds, and the remainder to the Fishes, Insects, and Plants; and care has been taken, by employing only the first artists, to render the plates worthy of the high patronage the work has received; while their number will demonstrate the rigid economy with which the funds for their execution have been distributed *. * There are twenty-eight plates in this part ; and fifty admirable coloured ones, of birds, have also been executed. The botanical plates will likewise be numerous, and many of them are already finished. b 4 INTRODUCTION. Having neither leisure nor ability to do justice to the different departments of such a work, without assistance, I have gladly availed myself of the aid of several kind friends and able naturalists,—the First Part, relating to the Quaprupeps, being the only one for which I am solely accountable. William Swainson, Esq., the able illustrator of the Ornithology of the Brasils, undertook to arrange and make drawings of the Birps, elucidate the Synonyms, furnish Remarks on the natural groups, and, in fact, to charge himself with the principal part of the Ornithology. The Reverend Mr. Kirby agreed to arrange and describe the Insects; and Dr. Hooker, Professor of Botany at Glasgow, relieved me entirely from the charge of describing the Puiants. The number of specimens of these requiring that Dr. Hooker’s part should extend to about two volumes of letter-press, ‘it has been judged better to publish the Zoology and Botany in separate works,—the latter edited solely by Dr. Hooker, and as similar to the former in paper and type as possible*. The following introductory remarks are, therefore, drawn up principally with a view to the Zoological specimens. First, with regard to the geographical limits of the country, whose ferine inhabitants are to be described. The Expedition landed at New York, proceeded up the Hudson to Albany; from thence westward by the ridge-road to Niagara; then, after a short visit to the stupendous falls on that river, it crossed Lake Ontario to York, the capital of Upper Canada; and, passing by Lake Simcoe and the river Nattawasaga, it arrived at Penetanguishene, on the north-east arm of Lake Huron, in the beginning of April. Up to this place, owing to the early period of the year, and the mode of * travelling, which was, for the greater part of our route, in carriages at a rapid rate, our collections were small, consisting, in Zoology, only of a few insects and serpents, and in Botany, principally of lichens _ * Dr. Hooker is far advanced with his work, which will come out in parts; and Mr, Drummond has already, under his inspection, published two volumes of dried American mosses, containing two hundred and eighty-six species, collected by the Expedition. INTRODUCTION. XE and mosses. With these slight exceptions, the specimens brought to England were entirely collected to the north of the Great Canada Lakes, beyond the settled parts of Upper Canada, and, in fact, in a widely extended territory, wherein the scattered trading posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company furnish the only vestiges of civilisation. The following work may, therefore, be termed a Fauna; or, more properly, Contributions to a Fauna of the British American Fur Countries ; or it may be considered, in a general view, as comprising what is known of the Zoology of that part of America, which lies to the north of the 49th parallel of latitude, and which, to the east. of the Rocky Moun- tains, at least, is exclusively British. I have, however; included in it descriptions of a few specimens obtained a degree or two to the south- ward of that latitude on Lake Huron and on the River Columbia, in both of which quarters there are several fur-posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company. After having travelled through the Fur Countries lying to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, for seven summers, and passed five winters at widely distant posts, it will scarcely be thought that I arrogate too much in saying, that almost all the quadrupeds that are objects of chase or interest to the natives, and a very great proportion of the birds, either came within the scope of my own observation, or were mentioned in the many conversations I had with the white residents and native hunters, on the natural pro- ductions of the country. But, although my opportunities of ascer- taining the number of species actually inhabiting the northern parts of America were so great, I must confess, that a journey like ours, in which natural history was only a subordinate object, and at many periods of which the shortest delay beyond that absolutely necessary for refreshment and repose, was inadmissible, did not afford much opportunity for studying the manners and habits of the animals with the attention I could have wished to have devoted to that subject. The present work, therefore, though fuller than any preceding one, is to be considered only in the light of a sketch, in which many omis- sions remain to be supplied and inaccuracies to be corrected by future observers. ‘To render the list as complete as possible, I have included pti xii INTRODUCTION. those animals mentioned by preceding writers, which did not come under the notice of the Expedition ; ; always carefully eee the source of my quotations. Sir John Franklin’s narratives of his two journeys contain’ full information respecting the districts through which the Expedition travelled ; but, to save reference, and to enable the reader of this work the more readily to discover the particular habitats, and to trace the geographical distribution of the species described in it, I have thought it proper to give a summary account of our route, followed om some compendious epee notices. | The First of the two Nortuern Lanp Expepitions disembarked in the month of August, 1819, at York Factory, in Hudson’s Bay, which is 90° of longitude east of the meridian of Greenwich. F rom thence, travelling between the 57th and 53d parallels of latitude, by Hayes’ River, Lake Winipeg, and the Saskatchewan, it proceeded to Cumberland-house, situated beyond the 102d meridian, where’ it arrived towards the end of October. Early in January, 1820, the Commanding Officer, accompanied by Mr. (now Captain) Back, set out, to travel on snow-shoes up the Saskatchewan, nearly west-south-west to Carlton-house, in the 106th degree of longitude; and from thence, on a northerly and somewhat westerly course, by Green Lake, the Beaver River, Isle & la Crosse, and Buffalo lakes, across the Methy portage, and Hee, the Elk River, to Fort Chepewyan, on the Atha- pescow or Athabascow Lake, or Lake of the Hills, as it is named by Sir Alexander Mackenzie. The other two officers of the Expedition (Lieutenant Hood and myself) stayed, during the remainder of the winter, at Cumberland-house; and after I had paid a visit in May to the plains of Carlton, and collected all the specimens of plants and animals I could procure at that season, set out in the month of June, to travel in canoe to Fort Chepewyan by the route of Beaver Lake, Missinippi or English River, Black-bear Island Lake, Isle’a la Crosse, Buffalo Lake and Elk River. Having rejoined our companions, ‘the whole party left Fort Chepewyan on the 18th of July, 18203 and, INTRODUCTION. Xilk descending the Slave River, crossed Great Slave Lake, and ascended the Yellow-knife River, to the banks of Winter Lake, situated in latitude 643°, and in the 113th degree of longitude, which it reached on the 19th day of August. A winter of nine months’ duration was spent at this place in a log building, which was named Fort Enter- prise; and in the beginning of June, 1821, while the snow was still lying on the ground, and the ice covering the river, the Expedition resumed its march. After the baggage and canoes had been dragged over ice and snow for one hundred and twenty miles to the north end of Point Lake, we embarked on the Coppermine River on the Ist of July, and on the 2Ist of the same month reached the Arctic Sea, when, turning to the eastward, we performed a coasting voyage of six hundred and twenty-six statute miles, to Point Turnagain, which is, owing to the deep indentations of the coast, only six degrees and a half of longitude to the eastward of the mouth of the Coppermine River. The rapid approach of winter now rendered it necessary to abandon the further pursuit of the enterprise; and on the 22d of August we retraced our course as far as Hood’s River, which we ascended for a short way, and then set out to travel overland to Point Lake, on our way back to Fort Enterprise. Winter, clothed with all the terrors of an arctic climate, overtook the party early in September: it suffered dreadfully from famine, no supplies were obtained at Fort Enterprise, the majority of the party perished, and the survivors were on the verge of the grave, when the Indians brought supplies of provision, and conducted them to Fort. Providence, the nearest of the Hudson Bay Company’s posts. The want of the means of carriage,.even at the most flattering periods of this disastrous journey, prevented us from attempting to preserve any bulky objects of natural history ; but all the plants gathered previous to our reaching the mouth of the Coppermine River were saved, having been given in charge to five of the party who were sent back from: thence. Those collected on the sea-coast, after having been carried for many days through the snow, were at length, on our strength being completely exhausted, reluctantly abandoned. ‘The xiv’ LNTRODUCTION.: winter of 1821-22 was passed at Fort Resolution, on the south side of Great Slave Lake ; and the summer of 1822 was consumed in returning by. the route we had before travelled to York Factory, where we embarked for England in the month of September. The most interesting of the quadrupeds and birds collected on this Expe- dition were described by Joseph Sabine, Esq., in the Appendix to Sir John Franklin’s narrative, and I pubhsheth a list of the plants in the same work. . The Second or Last Norruern Lanp Exprpirion commenced, as far as regards the objects of natural history described in this work, at Pene- tanguishene, on St. George’s day, the 23d of April, 1825, and having performed a coasting voyage along the northern sides of Lakes Huron and Superior, arrived at Fort William, a post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, situated in Thunder Bay of the last-mentioned lake. From thence it ascended the Kamenistiguia to Dog Lake, and crossing a height of land of no great elevation at the source of the Dog River, and only between twenty and thirty miles from the shores of Lake Superior, it descended by a series of rocky rivers, interrupted by numerous cascades and portages, to Rainy Lake, the Lake of the Woods, and Lake Winipeg. On entering the Saskatchewan River, which falls into the last-mentioned lake, on its east side, the Second Expedition came upon the route of the first one already described, which it kept till its arrival at Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake. At Cumberland-house, Mr. Drummond, the Assistant Naturalist, was detached up the Saskatchewan to examine the plains of Carlton, and the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains, near the sources of the Peace River. ‘His labours will be more particularly mentioned. hereafter : at present I proceed to trace the progress of the Expedition, which, on its arrival at Fort Resolution, instead of directing its course across Great Slave Lake, as on the first journey, turned to the west- ward, along the south shore of the lake, and entered the Mackenzie, by far the largest of all the American rivers which fall into the Polar Sea, and which originating in the same elevated part of the Rocky. INTRODUCTION. KV Mountain chain with the Columbia, the Missouri, and the Saskatche- wan, or Nelson Rivers, flows under the names of Elk, Slave, or Mackenzie River, on a north-north-west general course, through fifteen degrees of latitude, until it discharges itself into the sea by a mouth extending from the 133d to the 137th degree of longitude. When the Expedition reached the 65th degree of latitude in its descent of the Mackenzie, it turned to the eastward for seventy miles up a river to Great Bear Lake, where a winter residence was erected, on which the appellation of Fort Franklin was bestowed. Excursions were made down the Mackenzie and along Bear Lake while the navigation continued open, but the whole party were assembled at their winter-quarters on the 5th of September. The extent of country examined this first season may be judged of by the length of the route of the Expedition, from its leaving Penetanguishene in the month of April till its assembling at Great Bear Lake in September, which, including Mr. Drummond's journey to the Rocky Mountains, Sir John Franklin’s voyage down the Mackenzie to the sea, and a voyage round Great Bear Lake by myself, exceeded six thousand miles. Towards the end of the month of June 1826, the Expedition left its winter-quarters, and proceeded down the Mackenzie to the sea ; and the Commanding Officer, turning to the westward, sailed along the coast until he attained the 705° of latitude, and nearly the 150th degree of longitude, when the lateness of the season prohibiting a further advance, he retraced his way to Great Bear Lake. In the mean time, a detachment under my charge had sailed from the mouth of the Mackenzie eastward, round Cape Bathurst, in latitude 71° 36 north, to the mouth of the Coppermine River, whence it travelled on foot to the north-east end of Great Bear Lake, and from thence, in a canoe, to Fort Franklin. The extent of sea-coast examined by the two branches of the Expedition exceeded twelve hundred miles, and the whole distance travelled by them from the time of their departure from Fort Franklin till their return to it again, was upwards of four thousand miles. <A collection of plants formed by Captain Back, who accompanied Sir John Franklin, is peculiarly € XV1 INTRODUCTION. interesting, as having~ been made principally on a coast skirting the « northern termination of the Rocky Mountains. The Expedition returned to England the following summer; one division of it by way of Canada and New York, and the other by Hudson’s Bay. I passed the early part of the winter at Great Slave Lake, where I obtained specimens of all the fur-bearing animals of that quarter, and afterwards travelled on the snow to Carlton-house on the Saskatche- wan, where, with the assistance of Mr. Drummond, who joined me there, specimens of the greatest part of the birds frequenting that district were procured in the spring. I met Sir John Franklin at Cumberland-house in June, 1827, and accompanied him to Canada by the same route by which we came out, except that we went by the east side of Lake Winipeg, thus completing the circuit of that lake, and that instead of crossing Lake Ontario, on our way to New York, we gained the Uttawas from Lake Huron, by the route of the French River, and descended it to Montreal, whence we travelled to New York by way of Lake Champlain. Having thus given in detail the routes of the other branches of the Expedition, it remains that I should mention the one pursued by Mr. Drummond, the Assistant Naturalist, to whose unrivalled skill in collecting, and indefatigable zeal, we are indebted for most of the insects, the greater part of the specimens of plants, and a considerable number of the quadrupeds and birds. This gentleman remained at Cumberiand-house in the year 1825, after the rest of the party had gone to the north, collecting plants during the month of July, and then ascended the Saskatchewan for six hundred and sixty miles, to Edmonton-house, performing much of the journey on foot, and amassing objects of natural history by the way. Leaving Edmonton- house on the 22d of September, he crossed a swampy and. thickly wooded country to Red Deer River, one of the branches of the Elk or Athapescow River, and along whose banks he travelled until he reached the Rocky Mountains, the ground being then covered with snow. Having explored the portage-road across the mountains to the Columbia River, for fifty miles, he hired an Indian hunter, with whom INTRODUCTION, Xvi he returned to the head of the Elk River, on which he passed the winter making collections, under privations which would have effectually quenched the zeal of a less hardy naturalist. In the month of April, 1826, he revisited the Columbia portage-road, and remained in that neighbourhood until the 10th of August, when he made a journey to the head waters of the Peace River, during which he suffered severely from famine. Nothing daunted, however, he hastened back as soon as he obtained a supply of provisions, to the Columbia portage, with the view of crossing to that river, and botanizing for a season on its banks, He had reached the west end of the portage, when he'was overtaken by letters from Sir John Franklin, acquainting him that it was necessary to be at York Factory in 1827. ‘This rendered it necessary for him speedily to commence his return, which he did with great regret, for the view of the Columbia, whose banks are rich in natural productions, had stimulated his desire to explore them, and he remarks,—*« The snow covered the ground too deeply to permit me to add much to my collections in this hasty trip over the mountains ; but it was impossible to avoid noticing the great superiority of the climate on the western side of that lofty range. From the instant the descent towards the Pacific commences, there is a visible improvement in the growth of timber, and the variety of forest trees greatly increases. The few mosses that I gleaned in the excursion were so fine, that I could not but deeply regret that I was unable to pass a season or two in that interesting region.” He now bade adieu to the mountains and returned to Edmonton-house, where he stayed some time, and then joined me at Carlton-house, as has been already mentioned. His collections on the mountains and plains of the Saskatchewan amounted to about “ fifteen hundred species of plants, one hundred and. fifty birds, fifty quadrupeds, and a considerable number of insects.” He remained for six weeks at Carlton-house after I left that place, and then. descended. to Cumberland-house, where he met Captain Back, whom he accompanied to York Factory; but he had previously the pleasure of seemg Mr. David Douglas, who, after collecting specimens c XVill INTRODUCTION. of plants for the Horticultural Society, for three years, on the banks of the Columbia and in North California, crossed the Rocky Mountains: at the head of the Elk River, by the same portage-road that Mr,, Drummond had previously travelled, and having spent a short time in visiting the Red River of Lake Winipeg, returned to England with that gentleman by way of Hudson’s Bay. Thus, a zone of at least two degrees of latitude in width, and reaching entirely across the con- tinent, from the mouth of the Columbia to that of the Nelson River of Hudson’s Bay, has been explored by two of the ablest and most; zealous collectors that England has ever sent forth; while a zone of similar width, extending at right angles with the other from Canada to the Polar Sea, has been more cursorily examined by the Expeditions. Through the liberality of the Horticultural Society, and the im- fluence of their learned Secretary, Joseph Sabine, Esq., ever readily exerted for the advancement of science, I have been permitted to examine and describe the specimens of quadrupeds collected by Mr. Douglas, and this gentleman,. with a readiness to communicate the information he has acquired, that does him great credit, has kindly furnished me with some valuable notices of the habits of the animals which have been incorporated in this work. I have also had an opportunity of inspecting the specimens of quadrupeds obtained on the American coast of Behring’s Straits, by Captain Beechey, on his late voyage in the Blossom; and the notes respecting them, made on the spot by Mr. Collie, Surgeon of that ship, by whom principally they were collected, have been submitted to my perusal. Previous to our setting out on the Second Expedition, Sir John Franklin addressed letters to many of the resident chief factors and traders of the Hud- son’s Bay Company, requesting their co-operation with our endeavours to procure specimens of Natural History, and their ready acquiescence with his desire was productive of much advantage to us. Not only were great facilities for the advancement of our pursuits afforded to us by Mr. John Haldane, Mr. James Leith, Mr. Alexander Stewart, Mr, John. Prudens, Mr. Robert M‘Vicar, and other gentlemen, whose posts lay on our line of route; but a collection of birds and quadrupeds, INTRODUCTION: x1x of much interest, made at Fort Nelson on the River of the Mountains, a branch of the Mackenzie, was forwarded to us by Mr. Macpherson, ‘together with some valuable specimens obtained in the same quarter ‘by Mr. Smith, chief factor of that district. Mr. Isbister also had the ‘kindness to prepare for us a copious collection of birds at Cumberland- -house. These were not, however, the only channels through which the Specimens described in the following pages were obtained. I have had ample opportunities for studying the specimens brought home by Sir ‘Edward Parry, on his several expeditions; and much information was ikewise derived from frequent visits to the museum of the Hudson’s ‘Bay Company, and from repeated examinations of the specimens im- ported by that Company from their posts on James’s Bay, on the ‘Columbia, and in New Caledonia, and eeeguies by them to the Zoological Society and British Museum. After this brief exposition of the various sources from whence the specimens were derived, I proceed to give a concise general view of the nature of the different tracts of the country, whose ferine inhabitants form the subject of the following pages. The most remarkable phy- sical feature of the northern parts of America, is the great Mountain Ridge, which is continued under the appellation of the Rocky Mouwn- tains*, in a north-north-west direction from New Mexico, to the 70th degree of latitude, where it terminates within view of the Arctic Sea, to the westward of the mouth of the Mackenzie River. The course of this chain is tolerably straight, and its altitude, though various in different places, is everywhere far superior to that of any other moun- tains existing in the same parallel of the American continent. Like the Andes, of which they seem to be a prolongation, the Rocky Moun- tains lie much nearer to the Pacific coast than to the eastern shore of America, and they give rise to several very large rivers. Over an elevated portion of the chain, extending from the 40th to the 55th degree of latitude, are spread the upper branches and sources of the Columbia, which falls into the Pacific in the 46th parallel. If the principal arms of this river had not a very circuitous course, the nar- * Pennant names them the “‘ Shining Mountains.” xX INTRODUCTION. rowness of the stripe of country which intervenes between the summit of the ridge and the coast would have caused it to be little better than a mountain torrent. As it is, its arms spread far and wide, and it carries a great body of water to the sea. The head waters of the Missouri interlock with those of the southern branches of the Columbia ; but that river, precipitating itself down the eastern decli- vity of the mountains, takes a devious course to the ‘south-east, receiving in its way several great tributaries, and joing the Missis- stppi, which rises at the west end of Lake Superior, in a comparatively low, but hilly country. Their united streams traverse the whole of Louisiana, and fall into the Gulf of Mexico, after a course of four thousand and five hundred miles, reckoned from the head of the Missouri. The Saskatchewan is the third great river which issues from the same elevated part of the mountains, its feeding streams spreading from the 47th to the 54th parallel of latitude, and the more southern ones being interposed betwixt the head waters of the two preceding rivers. The upper streams of the Saskatchewan, after descending from the mountains, form two principal arms, which flow through comparatively naked, sandy plains, under the names of the North and South Branches, and then unite a short way below Carlton- house. From thence the river, continuing its course through a well- wooded country, passes by Cumberland-house, where it receives a considerable tributary that originates on the immediate banks of the Missinippi, a parallel river, and afterwards, flowing through Lake Winipeg, changes its name to Nelson River, and falls into Hudson's Bay, near Cape Tatnam. ‘The whole course of the Saskatchewan or Nelson River, from the mountains to the sea, may be estimated, windings inclusive, at one thousand six hundred miles. Lake ‘Winipeg, besides other large streams, receives the River Winipeg, which rises on a ridge of land bordering closely on Lake Superior, and also the Red River, whose eastern branch has its sources on the same heights with the Mississippi, and whose western branch originates close to the banks of the Missouri, some distance above where that river begins to turn to the southward. By means of short portages, then, one may pass from the respective branches of the Nelson, by the INTRODUCTION. Xxi Columbia, to the Pacific; by the Missouri or Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; by the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic, and also by the Elk or Mackenzie River, whose upper streams approach the north branches of the Saskatchewan to the Arctic Sea. The fourth great river which takes its rise from the same quarter of the Rocky Mountain range is the one just mentioned,—the Mackenzie, which is the third of the North American rivers in respect of size, being inferior only to the Missouri and St. Lawrence. The two principal arms of the Mackenzie are the Elk and Peace rivers. One of the main streams of the former, the Red Deer River, issues from the vicinity of the northern sources of the Columbia and Saskatchewan, whilst other feeders interlock with the head waters of the Beaver, Missinippi, or Churchill river. Having passed through the Athapescow Lake, the Elk River is joined by the Peace River, which, originating somewhat further north in the moun- tains within three hundred yards of the source of the Tacootchtessé or Frazer’s River, affords a canoe route to all parts of New Caledonia. It is a singular fact, that the Peace River actually rises on the west side of the Rocky Mountain ridge, and is a large stream navigable for boats at the place where it makes its way through a narrow gorge bounded. by lofty mountains, which are covered with eternal snows. Nearer the source of the river, and between it and the Tacootchtessé, the mountains are less lofty and more distant, and the country has there much of the character of elevated table-land. After its union with the Peace River the Elk River assumes the name of Slave River, which, on passing through Great Slave Lake, becomes the Mackenzie. At a considerable distance below the last-mentioned lake, and where the Mackenzie makes its first near approach to the Rocky Mountains, it is joined by a large stream, which rising a little to the northward of the Peace River, flows along the eastern base of the mountains. It obtained the name of the River of the Mountains from Sir Alexander Mackenzie; but its magnitude has since gained it the appellation of the South branch of the Mackenzie from the traders. The Mackenzie receives several other large streams on its way to the sea, and among others Great Bear Lake River, whose head-waters rise on the banks of XxIl INTRODUCTION. the Coppermine River and Peel’s River, which issues from the Rocky Mountains, in latitude 67°. Immediately after the junction of Peel’s River the Mackenzie separates into numerous branches, which flow to the sea through a great delta, composed of alluvial mud. Here from the richness of the soil, and from the river bursting its icy chains, comparatively very early in the season, and irrigating the low delta with the warmer waters brought from countries ten or twelve degrees further to the southward, trees flourish, and a more luxuriant vege-. tation exists than in any place in the same parallel on the American continent. In latitude 68° there are many groves of handsome white spruce firs, and in latitude 69°, on the shores of the sea, lofty and dense willow-thickets cover the flat islands ; while currants and gooseberries grow on the drier hummocks, accompanied by some showy epilobiums and perennial lupins. ‘The moose-deer, American hare, and beaver, accompany this display of vegetation to its limits. The whole course of the Mackenzie from the source of the Elk River to the sea, is about two thousand miles in length. These are the principal rivers of the fur countries, but there are three others of shorter course, upon which some part of the collections of specimens were obtained, viz. Hayes River, which rises near Lake Winipeg, and holding an almost parallel course to Nelson’s River, falls into the same part of Hudson’s Bay. York Factory, which will be often mentioned in the following pages, stands on the low alluvial point that separates the mouths of these two rivers. The next river which I have to mention is the Missenippi, or, as it is occasionally named, the English River, which falls into Hudson’s Bay at Churchill. Its upper stream, named the Beaver River, rises in a small ridge of hills, which separates the north branch of the Saskatchewan from a bend of the Elk River. The Coppermine is the last river which requires a particular notice. It has its origin not far from the east end of Great Slave Lake, and, taking a northerly course, flows through the Barren-grounds to the Arctic Sea. It is a stream of no great magnitude in comparison with some of the branches of the Mackenzie : there are few alluvial deposits'on its banks, and there is not, conse- INTRODUCTION; Xxili quently, that richness of vegetation, which on the Mackenzie attracts certain quadrupeds to very high latitudes. The Rocky Mountains have been crossed in four several places, First, by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, in the year 1793, at the head of the Peace River, between latitudes 55° and 56°. His route was followed, in 1806, by a party of the North-west Company, sent to make a settle- ment in New Caledonia, and is still occasionally used. by the Hudson’s Bay Company. Lewis and Clark, in the year 1805, crossed the Mountains in latitude 47°, at the head of the Missouri, in their way to the mouth of the Columbia River. For several years subsequent to that period, the North-west Company were in the habit of crossing in latitude 523°, at the head of the North branch of the Saskatchewan, between which and one of the feeding streams of the Columbia there is a short portage; but of late years, owing to the hostility of the Indians, that route has been deserted, and the Hudson’s Bay Company; who now have the whole of the Fur Trade of that country, use a portage of considerable length between the northern branch of the Columbia and the Red Deer River, one of the branches of the Elk or Mackenzie River. Some attempts have very recently been made to effect a passage in the 62nd parallel of latitude; but although several ridges of the mountains were crossed, it does not appear that any stream flowing towards the Pacific was reached. . The whole of the country lying to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the Missouri and Great Lakes, is settled, er more or less frequently visited by the Hudson Bay Company’s traders, and is well known to them, with the exception of the vicinity ef the Polar Sea, and a corner bounded to the westward by the Cop- permine River, Great Slave, Athapescow, Wollaston, and Deer Lakes, to the southward by the Churchill or Missinippi River, and to the northward and eastward by the sea. This north-eastern corner of the American continent is often mentioned in the following pages by the appellation of the Barren-grounds, which it has obtained from the traders on account of its being destitute of wood, except on the banks of some of the larger rivers that traverse it. The prevailing rocks in XxXi1V INTRODUCTION. the district are primitive, and in one or two places only do they rise:so as to deserve the name of a mountain-ridge, their general form being that of an assemblage of low hills with rounded summits, and more or less precipitous sides separated by narrow valleys. The soil of the latter is sometimes an imperfect peat earth, and in that case it nourishes a few stunted willows, glandular dwarf-birches, black sprice-trees, or larches ; but more generally the soil consists of the debris of the rocks, which is a dry coarse quartzose sand, unfit to support any thing but lichens. All the larger valleys have a lake of very transparent water, often of great depth in their centre, and occasionally these lakes are perfectly land-locked, though they all contain fish. More generally one lake discharges its waters into another, through a narrow gorge, by a rapid and turbulent stream, and most of the rivers which flow through the Barren-grounds are little more than a chain of narrow lakes con- nected in this manner. The small caribou or rein-deer, and the musk- ox, are the principal and characteristic inhabitants of these lands, and . the description by Linneeus, of the Lapland deserts frequented by the rein-deer, applies with perfect accuracy to this corner of America. “ Nullum vegetabile in tota Lapponia tanta in copia reperitur ac hee Lichenis species, (Cenomyce rangiferina) et quidem primario in sylvis, ubi campi steriles arenosi vel glareosi, paucis Pinis consiti; ibi enim non modo videbis campos per spatium unius hore, sed sape duorum triumve milliarium*, nivis instar albos, solo fere hocce lichene ob- ductos.” “ Hi Lichene obsiti campi, quos ¢erram damnatam diceret peregrinus, hi sunt Lapponum agri, hec prata eorum fertilissima, adeo ut felicem se preedicet possessor provinciz talis sterilissime, atque lichene obsite.” Being destitute of fur-bearing animals, no settle- ments have been formed within the Barren-grounds by the traders, and a few wretched families of Chepewyans, termed, from their mode of subsistence, “ Caribou eaters,’ are the only human beings who reside constantly upon them. Were any one to penetrate into their lands, they might address him with propriety in the words used by the * The Swedish mile is 53 English miles. INTRODUCTION, ' XKY Lapland woman to Linneus, when he reached her hut, exhausted by hunger and the fatigue of travelling through interminable marshes. “ O thou poor man, what hard destiny can have brought thee hither, to a place never visited by any one before! This is the first time I ever beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature! how didst thou come, and whither wilt thou go*?” Parties of Indians occasionally cross these wilds in going from the Athapescow to Fort Churchill, but they almost always experience great privations, and very often lose some of their number by famine. Hearne, in his first and second journeys, traversed them in two directions ; Sir John Franklin, in his first journey, travelled within their western limits; and Sir Edward Parry, in his second voyage, obtained specimens of the animals of Melville peninsula, which forms the North-east corner of the Barren- grounds. The Chepewyans, Copper Indians, Dog-ribs, Hare-Indians, and Esquimaux visit them annually for a short period of the summer Season, in quest of caribou. The following quadrupeds are known to inhabit the Barren-grounds : Ursus arctos 2? Americanus. » Mmaritimus, Gulo luscus. i More or less carnivorous Mustela (Putorius) erminea. or piscivorous. They me hs wigan prey much on the ani- Lutra Canadensis. mals in the following Canis lupus, et varietates ejus variz. Secon >> (Vulpes) lagopus. 45 ig » var. fuliginosa. 4 Fiber zibethicus. Arvicola xanthognathus. », Pennsylvanicus, >, borealis. . 1 7 3» (Georychus) trimucronatus. herbivorous. » S Hudsonius, aa ee Greenlandicus. _ Arctomys (Spermophilus) Parryi. * Lachesis Lapponica, p. 145, XXV1 INTRODUCTION, Lepus glacialis. Principal food the dwarf-birch. Cervus tarandus, var. arctica. telat or more commonly Ovibos moschatus. lichenivorous. A belt of low primitive rocks extends from the Barren-grounds to the northern shores of Lake Superior. It is about two hundred miles wide, and as it becomes more southerly, it recedes from the Rocky Mountains, and differs from the Barren-grounds, principally in being clothed with wood. It is bounded to the eastward by a narrow stripe of limestone, and beyond that there is a flat, swampy, partly alluvial district, which forms the western shores of Hudson’s Bay. As far as regards the distribution of animals, the whole tract, from the western border of the low primitive rocks to the coast of Hudson’s Bay, may be considered as one district, with the exception that the sea-bear seldom goes further inland than the swampy land which skirts the coast. The whole may be named the Eastern district, and the follow- ing animals inhabit it :— Vespertiliones, species duo vel tres ignotee. Sorex palustris. - ; >, Forsteri. Scalops, species ignota. Ursus Americanus. sey § (Doesjnot go further from the sea- 39 maritimus. \ shore than one hundred miles.) Meles ? Gulo luscus. Mustela (Putorius) vulgaris. 5 af erminea, oS » vison: >> Martes, >, Canadensis. Mephitis Americana, var. Hudsonica. Lutra Canadensis. Canis lupus, varietates varie. », (Vulpes) lagopus. os ™ fulvus. ” ” by var. decussata, as x op », argentata, Felis Canadensis. haa INTRODUCTION. . XXvii Castor fiber, Americanus et ejus varietates. Fiber zibethicus et ejus varietates, Arvicola xanthognathus. », Pennsylvanicus. » (Georychus) Hudsonius. Mus leucopus. Meriones Labradorius. Arctomys empetra. Sciurus (Tamias) Lysteri. x» Hudsonius. Pteromys Sabrinus. Lepus Americanus. Cervus alces. ,», tarandus, var. sylvestris. The district just mentioned is bounded to the westward by a very flat limestone deposit, and the line of junction of the two formations is marked by a remarkable chain of rivers and lakes, among which are the Lake of the Woods, Lake Winipeg, Beaver Lake, and the middle portion of the Churchill or Missinippi River, all to the southward of the Methy portage ; and the Elk River, Athapescow Lake, Slave River, Great Slave Lake, and Martin Lake, to the northward of it. The whole of this district is well wooded ; it yields the fur-bearing animals most abundantly ; and a variety of the bison, termed from the circum- stance the wood bison, comes within its western border, in the more northern quarter. This animal has even extended its range to a par- ticular corner, named Slave Point, on the north side of Great Slave Lake, which is also composed of limestone. The following animals may be found in the limestone tract :— Vespertilio pruinosus. Sorex palustris. » Forsteri. Condylura longicaudata. (southern parts only.) Ursus Americanus. Gulo luscus. Mustela (Putorius) vulgaris. oe = erminea, Pe a vison. d2 XXVili INTRODUCTION. Mustela martes. >», Canadensis. Mephitis Americana, Hudsonica. Lutra Canadensis, ; Canis lupus occidentalis, var. grisea. D ” Pr atra, ” ” A nubila. ” ” ” Sticte. >», (Vulpes) fulyus. » ” » var. decussata. ” ” » argentata. Felis Canadensis. Castor fiber, Americanus et varietates ejus nigrae, varie, et albee. Fiber zibethicus, colore interdum varians. Arvicola xanthognathus. ,, Pennsylvanicus. Mus leucopus. Meriones Labradorius. Arctomys empetra. 99 (Spermophilus) Hoodii (in the south-western limits of the district.) Sciurus (Tamias) Lysteri (in the southern part of the district.) if oe quadrivittatus (middle parts of the district.) »» Hudsonius. 19 niger (southern border of the district.) Hystrix pilosus. Lepus Americanus. Cervus alces. 39 tarandus, sylvestris (only in a few spots.) Bos Americanus. Between this limestone district and the foot of the Rocky Mountains, there is an extensive tract of what is termed Prairie land. It is in general level, the slight inequalities of surface being imper- ceptible when viewed from a distance, and the traveller in crossing it must direct his course by the compass or the heavenly bodies, in the same way as if he were journeying over the deserts of Arabia, The soil is mostly dry and sandy, but tolerably fertile, and it supports a pretty thick sward of grass, which furnishes food to immense herds of the bison. Plains of a similar character, but still more extensive, have been deseribed by the American writers as existing on the Arkansaw » INTRODUCTION. Xx, and Missouri Rivers. They gradually become narrower to the north- ward, and in the southern part of the fur countries they occupy about fifteen degrees of longitude, extending from Maneetobaw or Maneeto- woopoo, and Winepegoos Lakes to the foot’ of the Rocky Mountains. They are partially intersected by some low ridges of hills, and also by several streams, the banks of which are wooded, and towards the outskirts of the plain there are many detached clumps of wood and picturesque pieces of water, disposed in so pleasing a manner as to give the country the appearance of a highly cultivated English park. In the central parts of the plains, however, there is so little wood that the hunters are under the necessity of taking fuel with them on their journeys, or in dry weather of making their fires of the dung of the bison. To the northward of the Saskatchewan, the country is more broken, and intersected by woody hills; and on the banks of the Peace River, the plains are of comparatively small extent, and are detached from each other by woody tracts; they terminate altogether in the angle between the River of the Mountains and Great Slave Lake. The abundance of pasture renders these plains the favourite resort of various ruminating animals. They are frequented throughout their whole extent by buffalo and wapiti. The prong-horned antilope is common on the Assinaboyn or Red River, and south branch of the Saskatchewan, and extends its range in the summer to the north branch of the latter river. *The black-tailed deer, the long-tailed deer, and the grisly bear, are also inhabitants of the plains, but do not wander further to the eastward. The following list will shew the peculiarity of the group of ferine animals which frequent the district :— Ursus ferox. Canis latrans. »» (Vulpes) cinereo-argentatus. Arctomys (Spermophilus ?) Ludovicianus. Richardsonii. Franklinii. Hoodii. PP) bP) XXX INTRODUCTION. - Geomys? talpoides, Diplostoma ? Lepus Virginianus. Equus caballus. Cervus alces. 9, strongyloceros. 3» . macrotis. >, leucurus. Antilope furcifer. Bos Americanus. The fur-bearing animals also exist in the belts of wood which skirt the rivers that flow through the plains; and the wolverene wanders over them as it does through every part of the northern extremity of America. The mephitis Americana Hudsonica breeds freely there ; and the raccoon is found on the banks of the Red River, which is its most northern limit. The following animals are found on the Rocky Mountains :— Vespertilio subulatus, Sorex palustris. Ursus Americanus. sg) METOKS Gulo luscus. Mustela (Putorius) erminea. en 35 vison. >» martes. > Canadensis. Mephitis P Lutra Canadensis. Canis lupus et ejus varietates, »> (Vulpes) fulvus et ejus varietates. Felis Canadensis. Castor fiber, Americanus. Fiber zibethicus. Arvicola riparius. nbs xanthognathus. »» | Novoboracensis. » (Georychus) helvolus. Neotoma Drummondii. Mus leucopus. “_s INTRODUCTION. XXXI Arctomys empetra. = > pruinosus. ‘as (Spermophilus) Parryi, var. erythrogluteia. a5 os a pheognatha. By Be guttatus ? “3 > lateralis. Sciurus (Tamias) quadrivitiatus. >> Hudsonius. Pteromys Sabrinus, var. alpina. Hystrix pilosus. Lepus Americanus. » glacialis. Lepus (Lagomys) princeps. Cervus alces. f (Aflarge kind of caribou is saidjto frequent the moun- ” tarandus? tains, but I have seen no specimens either of the animal lor of its horns.) <5) Mmacrotis. Capra Americana (on the highest ridges.) Ovis montana (on the eastern side of the ridge.) Bos Americanus (in particular passes only.) The country lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific is in general more hilly than that to the eastward ; but there are some wide plains on the upper arms of the Columbia which have much of the character of the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchewan, and are inhabited by the same kind of animals. In particular the ursus ferox, canis latrans, canis cinereo-argentatus, the braro (perhaps meles Labra- doria), cervus macrotis var. . Columbiana, cervus leucurus, and aplodontia leporina, are enumerated by Lewis and Clark. Mr. Douglas also observed the condylura macroura, and several species of Felis and of Geomys and Diplostoma in that quarter. The sea-coast at the mouth of the Columbia is frequented by a species of fox very like the European one, or the red-fox of the Atlantic states of America. The Arctomys brachyurus and the Arctomys Douglasii also inhabit the banks of the Columbia; and the Arctomys Beecheyi, a species nearly allied to the latter, is found in the adjoining parts of California. The bison are supposed to have found their way across the mountains only very recently, and they are still comparatively few in numbers, and confined to certain spots. | XXx1i INTRODUCTION. The following brief description of New Caledonia, another district on the west of the Rocky Mountains, is extracted from Mr. Harmon’s journal :— 7 «¢ New Caledonia was first settled by the North-West Fur Com- pany in 1806, and may extend from north to south about five hundred miles, and from east to west, three hundred and fifty or four hundred. The post at Stuart’s Lake is nearly in the centre of it, and lies in 54> north latitude, and 125° west longitude, In this large extent of country, there are not more than five thousand Indians, including men, women, and children. It is mountainous, but between its elevated parts there are pretty extensive valleys, along which pass innumerable small rivers and brooks. It contains a great number of lakes, one of which, Stuart’s Lake, is about four hundred miles in circumference ; and another, Nateotain Lake, is nearly twice as large. I am of opinion that about one-sixth part of New Caledonia is covered with water. There are but two large rivers. One of these, Frazer's River, is sixty or seventy rods wide, rises in the Rocky Mountains within a short distance of the source of the Peace River, and is the river which Sir Alexander Mackenzie followed for a considerable distance when he went to the Pacific Ocean in 1793, and which he took to be the Columbia. The other large river of New Caledonia is Simpson’s River, which takes its origin in Webster’s or Bear Lake, and, after passing through several considerable lakes, falls into Observatory Inlet. The mountains of New Caledonia are not to be compared, in point of elevation, with those that skirt the Peace River between Vinlay’s Branch and the Rocky Mountain portage, though there are some which are pretty lofty, and on the summits of one in particular, which is visible from Stuart’s Lake, the snow lies during the whole year. me “The weather is not severely cold, except for a few days in the winter, when the mercury is sometimes as low as 32° below zero of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. The remainder of the season is much milder than it is on the other side of the mountains in the same INTRODUCTION. XXXill latitude. ‘The summer is never very warm in the day-time ; and the nights are generally cool. In every month in the year, there are frosts. Snow generally falls about the 15th of November, and is all dissolved by the 15th of May. About M‘Leod’s Lake the snow is sometimes five feet deep, and I imagine that this is the reason that none of the large animals, except a few solitary ones, are to be met with. «There are a few moose; and the natives occasionally kill a black bear. Caribou are also found at some seasons. Smaller animals like- wise occur, though they are not numerous. ‘They consist of beavers, otters, lynxes, fishers, martins, minks, wolverines, foxes of different kinds, badgers, polecats, hares, and a few wolves. The fowls are, swans, bustards (anas Canadensis), geese, cranes, ducks of several kinds, par- tridges, &c. All the lakes and rivers are well furnished with excellent fish. They are, sturgeon, white-fish, trout, sucker, and many of a smaller kind. Salmon also visit the streams in very considerable num- bers in autumn. The natives of New Caledonia we denominate Carriers ; but they call themselves Ta-cullies, which signifies people who go upon water.” Captain Cook, in his third voyage, saw raccoons, foxes, martins, and squirrels, alive, on the coast of New Caledonia, and obtained skins of the following animals :— Black-bear, brown-bear, glutton, grey wolf, arctic or stone fox, black fox. foxes of a yellow colour with a black tip to the tail, foxes of a deep reddish yellow intermixed with black, raccoon, land-otter, sea-otter, ermine, martins of three kinds: the common one, the pine-martin, and a larger one with coarser hair (mustela Canadensis ?), lynx, spotted marmot, hares, and skin of an animal named wanshee by the natives. In addition to this list, Meares mentions moose-deer skins, and the skin of a very small species of deer, as among the articles of trade in possession of the natives at Nootka Sound. To the north of New Caledonia there is a large projecting corner, which belongs to Russia, and has been traversed by the servants of the e XXXIV INTRODUCTION. Fur Company of that nation; but of which no account has-been given to the world, except of the coast, respecting which some information may be obtained from the narratives of Captain Cook, Kotzebue, and other voyagers. The few Indians of Mackenzie River, who have crossed the Rocky Mountains, report that, on their western side, there is a tract of barren grounds frequented by caribou and musk oxen; and the furs procured by the Russian Company indicate that woody regions, similar to those to the eastward of the mountains, also exist there. Langsdorff gives the following list of skins contained in the principal magazine of the Russian Fur Company, on the island of Kodiak, most of them collected on the peninsula of Alaska, Cook’s River, and other parts of thecontinent. | Brown and red bears, black bears, foxes black and silver-gray, (the stone fox, canis lagopus, is not found to the southward of Oonalaska), glutton, sea, river, and marsh otters, lynx, beaver, zizel marmot, com- mon marmot, hairy hedge-hog (erinaceus ecaudatus), rein-deer, American wool-bearing animal. The quadrupeds which inhabit the shores of the Polar Sea, are the same that are comprised in the list of the animals of the Barren Grounds. On the remote North Georgian Islands, in latitude 75°, there are nine different species of mammiferous animals, of which five are carnivorous, and four herbivorous. The following is Captain Sabine’s list of them :— Ursus maritimus. Gulo luscus. Mustela erminea. Canis lupus. Canis lagopus. Lemmus Hudsonius, Lepus glacialis, Bos moschatus They arrive on Melville Island towards the middle of May, and quit it on their return These two animals are only summer visitors. to the South in the end of September. Cervus Tarandus IT have not enumerated the seals, moose, or whales, in any of the lists; nor have I attempted to give a description of any of them in the text, because my opportunities of examining them were too limited te INTRODUCTION. _ XXXV enable me to record any new facts ; neither had I the means of cor- gectly ascertaining the species. - TI have, in the text, described the different species of animals, from nature, as correctly as I could; and I have chosen rather to subject myself to the charge of proxility than to become obscure by aiming at too great conciseness, because, in the course of my researches, I have felt the difficulty of ascertaining the species, from the brief characters assigned to them by the old writers. I have for the same reason in many instances repeated some of the generic characters in the account of a species, particularly in cases where any doubt respecting the genus or sub-division of the genus existed. In the account of the manners of the animals, I have borrowed freely from preceding writers; and from none more frequently or more copiously than from Captain Lyons, whose “Private Journal” contains a great fund of information respect- ing the northern animals. I wish it to be understood, however, that in all cases, unless where a doubt is actually expressed, or where I state that I have had no opportunity of personal observation, the remarks I have quoted are sanctioned by the information I collected on the spot. The nomenclature of colours, made use of in the description, is a modification of Werner's, contained in Mr. Syme’s useful little work*. Before closing this introductory chapter, I have to discharge the agreeable duty of expressing my obligations to many gentlemen who have fostered the progress of the work. To the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Goderich my gratitude is especially due. To _ his attachment to the sciences I am indebted for that patronage and aid, which his high situation in his Majesty’s Government enabled him to bestow, and without which this work could not have appeared. To the Right Honourable Thomas Frankland Lewis, also, I am under great obligations for the interest he has shewn in the advancement of the work, and for his kindness in forwarding my views. My gratitude is not less owing to the present Treasury Board, for the readiness with which they made the grant of money available; and to the late and * Werner's Nomenclature of Colours, with Additions. By Patrick Symz, Flower Painter. Edinburgh, 1821. eZ XXXVi INTRODUCTION, present Secretaries of State for Colonial Affairs, for their kindness in forwarding my applications through their department. I have next to express my best thanks to the Governor and Committee of the Hud- son’s Bay Company, for granting me free access to their museum, and to the manuscript accounts of the Fur Countries, in their possession, and for the strong recommendations they transmitted to the resident Chief Factors and Chief Traders, to forward the views of the Expedi- tion, with respect to Natural History. To Mr. Garry, the Deputy Governor of that Company, I have to offer my thanks in an especial manner, not only for his general kindness and good offices, but for the free use of his valuable library, particularly rich in the works of the early travellersin America. I have also to mention my deep sense of the kindness of the Council of the Horticultural Society, and of Joseph Sabine, Esq., Secretary to that Institution, for the opportunity of examining and describing Mr. Douglas’s specimens. To Charles Koenig, Esq., of the British Museum, I am under much obligation, for the facility he afforded me of examining the specimens in that collec- tion; and Lam equally indebted to N. A. Vigors, Esq., of the Zoological Society, for his aid in the consultation of the museum under his charge. I have, lastly, to express my gratitude to Sir John Franklin, and to the Officers associated with me under his command. ‘To the former, for the kindness with which he embraced every opportunity during the pro- gress of the Expedition, of forwarding my views with respect to that branch of its objects, which was more particularly intrusted to me; and to Captain Back, Lieutenant Kendall, and Mr. Dease, for their active assistance in the collection of specimens. Indeed, I may, with propriety, embrace this opportunity of saying, that I had the happi- ness of being placed under an Officer, who was endowed with the rare union of devoted attention to the duties of his profession, and of the most sincere attachment to the interests of general science,—and that, in him, and in the Officers under his command, I met with kind friends, whose agreeable society beguiled the tedium of a lengthened residence in the Arctic wilds. EXPLANATION OF THE REFERENCES TO AUTHORS. BartON ..., Bewicx BI.Liines . BLaInyiIL_e . Brisson . BuFFON CARTWRIGHT CARVER . CATESBY’. .o. C. HamiLton SMITH. CHAMPLAIN . CHARLEVOIX Medical and Physical Journal, edited by Professor Barton, ecb PSePhe (This work is quoted after M. Say.) Bewick'’s History of Quadrupeds. 1st and 2nd editions, with wood cuts. Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia, by Commodore Joseph Billings, 1785 to 1794 ; narrated by Martin Sauer. London, 1802. Bulletin des Sciences par la Société Philomatique, 1791 et seq. Paris. Le Régne Animal Diyisé en ix. Classes. 1 vol.in4to. Paris, 1756. Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere, avec la Description du Cabinet du Roi. Paris, 1749. 36 vols. in 4to. Journal of Sixteen Years’ Residence in Labrador, by G. Cartwright. 1 vol. 8vo. London. Travels in North America, by J. Carver, Esq:, in the Years 1766, 1767 and 1768. London, 1778. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, by Mark Catesby. 2 vols. fol. with App. London, 1731 and 1743. 3 Vide Suite. Voyages du Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois. 1613, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, avec le Journal d'un Voyage dans lAmerique, Septentrionale, par le P. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix, a Paris an 1777. 12mo. tom. 5. CuieRx« of the Catirornia Vide Smitu and Drage. CLINTON. . Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York, instituted in the Year 1814. Introductory Discourse by the Hon. De Witt Clinton, LL.D., &e. 4to. New York, 1815. Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, in 1776—1780, performed under the Direction of Captain Cook. London, 1784. 4to. 3 vols. Account of Russian Discoveries between Asia and America, by William Coxe, A.M., F.R.S. London, 1787. XXXVIil EXPLANATION OF THE Cuvier, or Cuvier, Baron. Tableau Elementaire de l'Histoire Naturelle des Animaux. 1 vol. in8vo. Paris, 5; 5 5 1798. Legons d'Anatomie Comparée, Recueilles et Publiées, par MM. Dumeril et Duvernay. 5 vols. in 8vo. Paris, 1803—1805. A AL 5 Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles de Quadrupedes. 4 vols. in 4to. Paris, 1812+ “5 6p Le Régne Animal Distribue d'aprés sur Organisation, par M. Le Chr. Cuvier. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1817. CuviER, Frep. . . . Histoire Naturelles des Mammiferes. En folio. De Monts .... . Vide Monts. DENYS) ue) reule : Histoire de LAmerique. (Quoted from Pennant.) DESMAREST . . ws . Mammalogie en Description des Especes des Mammiféres, par M. A. G. Des- marest. 4to. Paris, 1820. Dixon. ... . . . A Voyage round the World, in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by Captain George Dixon. London, 1789. Dopps.... . « An Account of Hudson’s Bay, by Arthur Dobbs, Esq. London, 1744 - +955 Drace. ... .. . Vide Suite and Cuier« of the CALIFORNIA. Duptey .. .. « « Philosophical Transactions, January, 1727. Ofthe Moose-deer in America, by Paul Dudley, Esq. t Du Pratz .... . Mide Prarz, Epwarps. .. . . . Natural History of Birds and otherrare undescribed Animals, by George Edwards. 7 vols. 4to. London, 1743. : : Enis . . . . . « . Voyage to Hudson’s Bay in the Dobbs and California, by Henry Ellis, in the year 1746 and 1747. London, 1748. 8vo, ERXLEBEIN®. . «© » e Systema Regni Animalis. 8vo. Leipzick, 1777. FaprRicius ... Fauna Groenlandica Othonis Fabricii. 1 vol. 8vo. Hafniz et Lipsic, 1780. FERNANDEZ. . . . . Historia Animalium, auctore Francisco Fernandez, Phillippi Secundi Primario Medico. 1 vol. 4to. An. 1651, Roma. FLEMING . . . . . « The Philosophy of Zoology, by John Fleming, D.D, 2 vols, 8vo. Edinburgh, 1822. Forster . . . . . « Philosophical Transactions, vol. 62. An. 1777. Descriptions of Specimens of Animals brought from Hudson's Bay, by J. Reinhold Forster. FRANKLIN... « . Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819, 1820, and 1821, by John Franklin, Capt. Royal Navy. 1 vol. 4to. London, 1822. ne . « «. . « Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1825, 1826, and 1827, by John Franklin, F.R.S., Captain Royal Navy. 1 vol. 4to. London, 1828. Gass . . . . « « . Journal of the Travels of a Corps of Discovery under Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke to the Pacific Ocean, in the Years 1804, 1805, and 1806. 8vo. By Patrick Gass. 1 vol. 8vo. London, 1808. GEOFFREY ...- Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. 20 vols. in 4to. De 1822 a 1823, ; ; GMELIN... . . « Systema Nature Linnei, ed.13. An. 1790. J. F. Gmelin. GopMAN ... 2. 2 GRAHAM.» 3.2, GRIEVEMHG 30le * GRIFFITH So a: hes GULDENSTED .. HamiLton SMITH EPARTAN “see iERARMION © 6 se Eb@aRNE! se «| HENNEPIN ... Hieney tc. S Herior . HERNANDEZ... Histoire DE L’AMERIQUE. Hontan .. HurTcHins FaMES 22. os JAMES. 2. Gs JAMESON... + « JEREMIE. 2 «-+ « WOSELVN: ©. <o.6 SODER — on. 0T oc, « WAPI rm oe 6, .° REFERENCES TO AUTHORS. XxXxix American Natural History, by John D. Godman, M.D. .3 vols. 8yo, Philadel- phia, 1826. Vide Horcuins. History of Kamskatcha, translated from the Russian of Krascheninikoff, by James Grieve, M.D. Gloucester, 1764. ere. The Animal Kingdom, by Baron Cuvier, translated by Edward Griffith, and Others. 8vo. London, An. 1827 et seq. Novi Commentarii Petropolitani, 1749—1775. 20 vols. Vide Sir. ; Fauna Americana, being a Description of the Mammiferous Animals inhabiting North America, by Richard Harlan, M.D. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1825. A Journal of Voyages and Travels in the Interior of North America, between the 47th and 58th Degrees of Latitude, by Daniel William Harmon, a Partner in the North West Company. Andover, 1820. Journey to the Northern Ocean, by Samuel Hearne, in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, and 1772. London, 1807. here Nouvelle Decouverte d'un Tres grand Pays situé dans USSETOE. | par R. P. Louis de Hennepin. Amsterdam, 1698. Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories, by Alexander Henry, in the Years 1760—1776. New York, 1809. Travels through Canada, by George Heriot, Esq. London, 1807. Rerum Medicarum Nove Hispaniz Thesaurus Francisci Hernandez, Reccho Editore. Roma, 1651. Histoire de l!Amerique Septentrionale. Tom. 2,12mo. Amsterdam, 1723. Vide LAHONTAN. _MS. Account of Hudson’s Bay, written about the year 1780. Mr, Hutchins furnished much inteiligence to Pennant respecting the Zoology of Hudson's Bay. In a few first sheets of this work Mr. Graham is through mistake quoted as the author of these manuscript notices. The dangerous Voyage of Captain Thomas James, for the Discovery of a North- West Passage. London, 1633, reprinted 1740. Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, under the Command of Major Long, by Edwin James. 3vols. London, 1823. The American edition is also quoted oc- casionally. Transactions of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, vol. iii. p.306. Account of the Rocky Mountain Sheep, by Professor Jameson. Voyage au Nord. (Quoted from Pennant.) New England. (Quoted from Pennant.) Voyage to Mexico, by Mr. Joutel, translated from the French. London, 1719. Peter Kalm’s Travels in North America, translated by J.R. Foster. The abridge- ment in Pinkerton’s collection of voyages is also quoted. . Ix IGEN sus aie’ ia gin aie KRASHENINIKOFF . LAHONTAN LANGSDORFF Lawson Leach ... ” ” ” LEsson Lewis and CLARKE LICHTENSTEIN . Linn. . ” ” ” Linn. GMELIN . Lone’s JoURNEY . Lyon Mc GILuivRay . EXPLANATION OF THE Isaac Theodore Klein, Quadrupedum Dispositio, 4to. Lipsie, 1751. ; Vide GRIEVE. Voyages dans l'‘Amerique de M. La Baron de la Hontan, Vol. 2 en12mo. Ala Haye, 1703. Voyages and Travels to various Parts of the World, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, and 1807, by G. H. von Langsdorff. 2 vols. London, 1813. History of Carolina. (Quoted from Pennant.) Leach, W. Elford. Zoological Miscellany. Appendix to Ross's Voyage to Baffin's Bay. 1819. Manuel de Mammalogie, par Réne Primeverre Lesson. 12mo. Paris, 1827. Travels to the Pacific Ocean in 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1807. Voyage a Boukhara, par M. Le Baron Georges de Meyendorff, en 1820. Paris, 1826. Description, par M. Lichtenstein des Animaux Recueilles dans le Voyage, par M. Eversman. Systema Natures, Carolo a Linné. Ed. xii. 1766. 1746. Systema Nature Linnei. Ed. xiii, Cura Gmelini, Leipsig, 1788. Vide James. Private Journal of Captain G. F. Lyon during a Voyage of Discovery under Captain Parry. 8vo. London, 1824. Fauna Suecica. 8vo. New York Medical Repository, vol. vi. p. 238. Account of the Mountain Ram, by William Me Gillivray. 1803. Macxenziz (Sir ALEX.) Travels to the Polar Sea and to the Pacific Ocean, in the Years 1789—1791, by Alexander Mackenzie. London. Mackenzis (SirGrorGE) Travels in Iceland. Marten . Mears MEYENDORFF Mircwinh .... , Monts, De . Orv . ” PaLisor DE BEAUVAIS. PALLAs Voyage to Spitzbergen and Greenland, by F. Marten. 8vo. London, 1711. Voyages to the North-West Coast of America in 1788 and 1789, by John Meares, Esq. 4to. London, 1790. Vide LicHTENSTEIN. Medical Repository of New York. An. 1821. (Quoted from M. Say.) Nova Francia. The three last voyages of Monsieur de Monts, of M. Pontgrave, and of M. De Poutrincourt, into La Cadia. London. Guthrie's Geography, American Edition. Philadelphia. (Quoted from Harlan.) . Journal ‘of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia. Vol. iv. p. 305. Bulletin des Sciences par la Société Philomatique depuis, 1791. Paris. Novae Species Quadrupedum e Glirium Ordine. Erlang. In 4to. Spicelegia’ Zoologica. Berolini, 1767—1780. Voyage dans Plusieurs Provinces de lEmpire de Russie, 8 vols. in 8vo. Paris. BRATZ seo RAFINESQUE, or Rahinesque-SMALtz. RUAN ot %., ts: ae RICHARDSON. . . 4 ” . . . * SaBINE, (JOSEPH). . ” ” . . REFERENCES TO AUTHORS. xii Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage, performed in the. Years 1819, 1820, in His Majesty's Ships the Hecla and Griper, by William Edward Parry, R.N., F.R.S. 4to. London, 1821. Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage in the Years 1821, _ 1822, 1823, in the Fury and Hecla, by Captain Mig Adwaagh Palys RN. F.R.S. London, 1824, . History of Quadrupeds. 3d Edition. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1793. . Arctic Zoology. 2 vols. 4to. 1784. . Travels on the Missouri and Arkansaw, by Lieutenant Pike, in 1805 and 1806. Edited by T. Rees, Esq. London, 1811. . Voyage de Louisiana. (Quoted from Pennant.) | Annals of Nature. (Quoted from Desmarest.) American Monthly Magazine, (Ditto). Precis, les Decouvertes Somiologiques. En18mo. Palerme, 1814. Raii Synopsis Methodica Animalium. 8yo, Londini, 1693. Appendix to Captain Parry’s Second Voyage. London, 1824. . Zoological Journal. 1828, 1829. London. . Franklin's First Journey. Zool. Appendix. London, 1822. . . Linnean Transactions, vol. xiii. Sasine, (Capt. Epwarp) Supplement to the Appendix of Captain Parry's First Voyage in 1819, 20. SAGARD-THEODAT , SAUBR ok eo 1 «amos Same «2s SCHOOLCRAFT « « + SCHREBER .... SEEAW ye gs a! Situ, (CAPTAIN) + Situ, (C.H.). . . STELIER s 2 4s _¢ TEMMINCK « « « ¢ London, 1824. Vide Tazopat. Vide BiLuinGs. His Zoological Notices, in the Notes to Long’s Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, are quoted. Vide JAMEs. Travels to the Sources of the Mississippi River, by H. R. Schoolcraft. Albany, 1821. . Histoire des Mammiféres. In 4to. Erlangen, 1775, et suiv. General Zoology, by George Shaw, M.D., F.R.S. 16 vols. 8vo. London, 1800—1812. Voyage by Hudson's Straights, in the California, by Captain Francis Smith; by the Clerk of the California, in 1746 and 1747. (The Clerk’s name was Drage. Ellis, the Agent for the Proprietors in the Dobbs, the consort of the California, gives another account of the voyage, but less full on points of Natural History.) Vide Ellis, His papers in the Linnean Transactions, and in oo s Translation of Cuvier, are quoted. Acta Petropolitana. + Monographies de Mammalogie et Tableau Methodique des Mammiféres. 4to. Paris, 1827, xlii EXPLANATION OF THE REFERENCES TO AUTHORS. THEODAT. - . « « « Histoire du Canada, par le F. Gabriel Sagard-Theodat. “12mo. Paris, 1636. TRAILL . . . . . + Woyage toGreenland, by J. Scoresby. Appendix. UMFREVILLE .. . - Present State of Hudson’s Bay, by Edward Umfreville. London, 1790. 8vo. UtutoA . «© = ~ « « Voyage. (Quoted from Pennant.) Warpen. . .. «+ . Account of the United States of North America. Edinburgh, 1819. VoyacE DE L'AMERIQUE Voyage de l'Amerique dans le Vaisseau Pelican. En 1697. Amsterdam, 1723. SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE SPECIES. 1. VEsPERTILIO PRUINosUS. The Hoary Bat rs 3 SUBULATUS. Say’s Bat 3. Sorex PALustRis. The American Marsh-Shrew . 4, ,, Forsterr. Forster’s Shrew-Mouse 5. 5, Parvus. The Small Shrew-Mouse — 6. Scarops Canapensts. The Shrew-Mole 7. ConpyLuRA Lonercaupata. The Long-tailed Star-nose 8. Ursus Amertcanus. The American Black Bear 9. ,, arcros ? Americanus. The Barren-ground Bear 10. ,, FERox. The Grisly Bear 10%: ,, maritimus. The Polar or Sea Bear 5B MACROURA . 1]. Procyon totor. The Raccoon 12. Mees Lapraporta. The American Badger 13. Guto Luscus. The Wolverene 14. Muste1a (Purorius) vutearis. The Common Weasel 15. PS bs ERMINEA. The Ermine, or Stoat 16. ae Bs vison. The Vison-Weasel Ty. ee MARTES. The Pine-Marten . 18. 5 CanapEnsis. The Pekan or Fisher 3 var. alba. White Pekan 19. Mzputris Americana, Hupsontca. Hudson’s Bay Skunk . 20. Lurra CaNApeEnsiIs. The Canada Otter 21. 4, (Enuypra) Marina. The Sea Otter £2 xliv SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE SPECIES. 22. Canis Lupus, occipeNTALIsS, The American Wolf : » ’ 60 var, A. Lupus eriseus. The Common Gray Wolf : ° . 66 B. ,, atsus. The White Wolf . : , : 68 C, ,, Sricre. The Pied Wolf z , . . D. ,, Nusitus. The Dusky Wolf . : . . 69 E. ,, aver. The Black American Wolf ? : . ap 23, Canis Latrans. The Prairie Wolf : : A , 73 24, 4, ¥FAMILIARIS. The Domestic Dog i . i gia cate var. A. BorEALIs. The Esquimaux Dug . . . . 75 B. tacopus. The Hare-Indian Dog ; . . —- C. Canapensts. The North American Deg , : ; 80 ; D. Nova Cateponim. The Carrier Indian Dog ; : . >. Se 25, Canis (VutPes) tacopus. The Arctic Fox ;' ; . . 83 var. 8. FuLGINosA. The Sooty Fox . : 2 ee 26. Canis (VuLPEs) rutvus. The American Fox : e : 91 var. 8. DECUSSATA. The American Cross Fox : : ; 93 y. ARGENTATA. The Black or Silver Fox 5 : ; 94 7. Canis (Vutpes) Vireinianus. The Gray Fox . - . . 96 28. ,, (VuLrEs vutearis) vuLpes? The Fox . Par - oF 29. Cants (Vurprs) cINEREO-ARGENTATUS. The Kit Fox : A . 8 30, Fetis Canapensts. The Canada Lynx : , . ; 101 31. ,, Rura. The Bay Lynx 103 32. ,, wascrata. The Banded Lynx ‘ : . ‘ 104 33. CAasToR FIBER, Aue ricanus. The American Beaver ‘ ; . 105 var. B. ,, wniera. The Black Beaver . ; é 3 113 C. ,, varia. The Spotted Beaver : ; ; . 14 D. ,,. atBa. The White Beaver . ‘ ; . 114 34, Freer zisetuicus. The Musquash . ; é : - 115 var. B, ,, nigra. The Black Musquash ; : aa 119 C. 1, MACULOSA. The Pied Musquash . 5 ‘ . LY | D. ,, ata, The White Musquash : : . 119 35. ARVICOLA RIPARIUS. The Bank Meadow-Mouse F . 120 36. a3 XANTHOGNATHUS. The Yellow-cheeked bred tat tity: ‘ 122 SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE SPECIES. 37. ARVICOLA PENNSYLVANICUS. Wilson’s Meadow-Mouse 38. $ Novoporacensis. The Sharp-nosed Meadow-Mouse 39. 4, Boreatts. The Northern Meadow-Mouse ° 40. a (GEORYCHUS) HELVOLUS. The Tawny Lemming . Al, aS oS TRIMUCRONATUS. Back’s Lemming A2, 5 Pe ’ Hupsonius. The Hudson’s Bay Lemming 43. oe sc Grantanpicus. The Greenland Lemming 44, Neoroma Drummonpit, The Rocky Mountain Neotoma Tt Mus rattus. The Black Rat : j- » DeEcuMaNus. The Brown Rat 7: »» MuscuLtus. The Common Mouse 45. ,, Leucopus. The American Field-Mouse 46. Mertones Lasrapvorius. The Labrador Jumping-Mouse 47, ARCTOMYS EMPETRA. ‘The Quebec Marmot 48. > ? pruinosus. The Whistler 20 a BRACHYuRUS. The Short-tailed Marmot . 2% _ monax. The Wood-Chuck , ae “ (Spermopuitus ?) Lupovicranus. The Wistonwish . 50. - i Parry. Parry’s Marmot Var. 6. ERYTHROGLUTEIA +> Y- PHEOGNATHA 51. Arcromys (SPERMOPHILUS) guTTATUS? ‘The American Souslik 57a = a Ricuarpsoni, The Tawny Marmot 53. “3 9 Frankunir. Franklin’s Marmot re re oh Brercueyi. Beechey’s Marmot 54. ifs ? » 2 Dovetasu. Douglas's Marmot 55. 95 ae LATERALIS. Say’s Marmot 56. » os Hoop. The Leopard Marmot , 57. Sciurus (Tamras) Lysrerr. The Hackee , : 58. 3 7 QuAprRivittatus. The Four-banded Pouched-Squirrel 59. > Hupsontus. The Chickaree : ; 53 Var. @. The Columbian Pine-Squirrel CO"). NIGER. The Black Squirrel xlvi SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE SPECIES. PAGE 61. Preromys Sasrinus. The Severn River Flying Squirrel : f 193 Var. 8. aLpina. The Rocky-Mountain Flying-Squirrel ‘ - 195 Geomys. Generic characters i ‘ ° i ; 197 62. . Dovetasit. The Columbia Sand-Rat . . 200 {- ss umMBRINuUs. Leadbeater’s Sand-Rat z ‘ d 202 63. » ? BuRSARIUS. The Canada Pouched-Rat : : . 203 64, »; ? TaLporpes. The Mole-shaped Sand-Rat A 4 : 204 65. DipLostoma BuLBivoruM. The Camas-Rat : - ; . 206 ApLopontia. Generic characters : ‘ : 210 66. APLopONTIA LEPORINA. The Sewellel . ' - 5 211 67. Hystrix pttosus. The Canada Porcupine A é P 214 68, Lepus Americanus. The American Hare 217 69. ,, o@Laciatis. The Polar Hare : : 2 221 70. ,, Vireintanus. The Prairie Hare A : - .. Cee 71. ,, (Lacomys) princers. The Little-Chief Hare ‘ é 227 7. Lipura Hupsonra. The Menllese Marmot 4 - ; . 230 72. Equus capatLus, The Horse . , Z 231 73. Cervus aces. The Moose-Deer - 3 : 232 74, », TARANDUS. The Caribon 5 : A , 238 Var. a. ARCTICA . 241 » f. SYLVESTRIS : 250 79. ». STRONGYLOCEROs. The Wapiti : : - 2ol 76. » MacRoris. The Black-tailed Deer A - i 254 Var. 8. CoLUMBIANA i é A : 257 Ti. » tEucurus. The Long-tailed Deer ° : . 208 78. ANTILOPE FURCIFER. The Prong-Horned Antilope : . 261 79. Capra Americana. The Rocky Mountain Goat : : : 268 80. Ovis montana. The Rocky Mountain Sheep ° : . 271 81. Ovisos moscuatus. The Musk-Ox P 2 . . 275 82. Bos Americanus. The American Bison ; - A . 2 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. fit ow NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. PART I. MAMMALIA. [1.] 1. Vespertitio Prurosvs. (Say.) Hoary Bat. Genus. Vespertilio. Linn. Sub-genus. Vespertilio, GEorFRoy. VY. Pruinosus. Say. Long’s Exped., vol. i. p. 167. American edition. (vol.i. p. 331, Engl. ed.) Harzian. Fauna Amer. p. 21. Hoary Bat. Gopman. Wat. Hist. vol.i. p. 68, and fig. t. No. 3. This species of Bat was first noticed by Mr. Nuttall, at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri; and Mr. Say, in Long’s Expedition, describes an individual captured in the same neighbourhood. Dr. Godman states, that it has been taken near Philadelphia. The specimen I have described below was caught at Cumberland- house on the Saskatchewan, in latitude 54°, and presented to me by Mr. Isbister, resident clerk at that post. This individual is larger than Mr. Say’s, but there seems to be no other difference. Godman’s figure does not represent the tail forming a small obtuse point to the interfemoral membrane, such as it exists in my specimen. After a minute examination, I could find no traces of more than two incisors in the upper jaw. Mr. Say found the same number; but it is pos- sible, that some cutting-teeth may have dropped out in both specimens. The number of teeth would bring this species of Bat into the genus Nycticezus of Rafinesque ; but the whole habit of the animal shews that it is properly classed in Geoffroy’s genus Vesperttlio, a subdivision of the great Linnean genus. DESCRIPTION. Dental formula, incisors 2, canines j=}, grinders = = 34, The superior incisors are conical and sharp pointed, separated from each other by a wide naked space, and closely adjoining to the canine tooth on their respective sides. They are : B NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. slightly dilated exteriorly at their bases, but can scarcely be termed tuberculated. In height, they equal the molar teeth. The inferior incisors are arranged in contact with each other in a convex line, and are very short. They have obtuse, slightly two-lobed crowns, which expand laterally beyond their roots. The upper canine teeth are conical, obscurely three-sided and sharp pointed. They stand twice as high as the molar teeth. The inferior canine teeth are of the same size with the superior ones, and have each a minute and rather obtuse lobe at the base on the inner side. The molar teeth have high, sharp, pyramidal points. The nostrils are two lines apart, turned a little outwards, and have a raised obtuse, naked margin. There is a depression between the nostrils superiorly, but no furrow on the margin of the lip, which is hoary within and without. The eyes are surrounded by fur, but situated clear of the ear and its tragus, The ears are shorter than the head, nearly circular, entirely covered with fur behind, except a small lobe, which projects anteriorly, and is overlapped by the tragus. On the inside there are some detached patches of hair. The margins are entire, and the folds around the auditory opening have a resemblance to those of the human ear. The ¢ragus is scalene-triangular, fixed by one of its angles, and is well characterised by Mr. Say as very obtuse at the tip, and arquated. It is thinly hairy exteriorly. The margin of the mouth and the chin are black and hairy; and the crown of the head and throat are yellowish-brown. The occiput, and the rest of the superior parts, are covered with a long and very fine fur, which is blackish-brown at the base, then shining yellowish-brown, followed by very dark umber-brown, and, lastly, tipped with white, producing a hoary and almost silvery colour on the back. The fur of the under parts is also hoary, but has less lustre. The interfemoral membrane is triangular, and at its apex there is a very slight smooth projection of the tail. It is hairy above ; its fur, towards the middle, being coloured like that of the back; but, near its margins, and particularly towards the apex, a reddish-brown tint prevails. The wing-membrane presents some small hairy patches above the elbow-joint, and at the roots of the metacarpal-bones. Underneath, it has a close coat of yellowish-brown fur on each side of the humerus; also a hairy patch beneath the brachial- bone, and others beneath the metacarpal-bones at their origin. The first finger has one joint; the second, three; and the others, two each. The thumb has one phalanx, which is much longer than its metacarpal-bone, and is armed with a short but strong, curved, black claw. The hind-feet are covered with hoary fur above, and have short, curved claws, which are excavated underneath. DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines. Inches. ~ Lines. Length of the head and body A 0 Space betwixt the upper canine teeth ’ 0 32 AD tail ; Pont 7 2 0 as lower canine teeth . 0 2h Spread of the wings ‘ . ’ . 15 0 x ears . . . 0 7 Length of head . 0 1 1 Length of thumb and claw anea\e 0 6 Space betwixt the nostrils nearly 0 2 0 6 Diameter of the ear, (every way,) about . MAMMALIA. 3 f2.] 2. VEsPERTILIO SuBuLaTus. (Say.) Say’s Bat. Vespertilio Subulatus. Say. Long’s Exped. vol. ii, p. 65. (or vol. ii. p. 253, Eng. ed.) Subulate Bat. Gopman. Nat. Hist. vol.i. p. 71. DESCRIPTION. Dental formula, incisors “>, canines (>, grinders 3 = 38. The upper incisors are short, and are arranged in two distant pairs, each pair being close to the canine tooth of the same side. Each tooth has a small interior pointed lobe. The lower incisors are very short, and have two obtuse lobes. The canine teeth are a little longer than the grinders, nearly straight, subulate, and sharp pointed*. The two anterior grinders on each side, both above and below, are small, short, conical, and sharp pointed. The one adjoining to them, also simply conical, is higher than the three pos- terior grinders of each side, which, in the lower jaw, have a double row of acute points; and, in the upper jaw, a triple row ; the inner row of the latter being much lower than the outer ones. The head is short, broad, and flat: the nose blunt, with a small, flat, naked muzzle. The nostrils, situated. at the two anterior corners of the muzzle, are small, roundish, naked, and scarcely one line apart. The tip of the lower jaw is rounded, and naked. Hyes concealed by the fur, and situated near the ears, but not covered by them. ars about the length of the head, or a little longer, thin, membranous, ovate, obtuse; slightly undulated, but not notched posteriorly, and curving forwards at the base; slightly ventricose anteriorly, without folds. The ear is hairy at the base behind, and there are a very few scattered hairs on its inner surface. The tragus is thin, broadly subulate below, tapering to a point upwards, and ending in a small obtuse tip ; it is attached by one corner at the base, is about two-thirds of the height of the ear, and is not curved or falciform, The back has a shining yellowish-brown colour ; the belly a yellowish-gray. The fur, soft and fine, is longest on the back (three lines), and both above and below is blackish at the roots. With the exception of the small naked space behind the nostrils, the head is covered with fur, but a little shorter than that on the back; towards the mouth it assumes a blackish colour ; it is rather coarser on the lips, and there are a few longer hairs or whiskers, but they are not stiff nor very conspicuous. The interfemoral membrane is broad, and tapers to a point along the tail, which it envelopes. It is thinly clothed at the base with fur similar to that on the back in colour, but shorter. It is also fringed with a few scattered hairs on its posterior, free margin, which is not undulated. * The bifid point of one of the canine teeth in Mr. Say’s specimen seems to have been an accidental circumstance. B 2 A NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. The tail projects about a line beyond the membrane. The toes of the hind-feet are rather long, and have white, slender claws, not greatly curved, with a few long hairs projecting over them. The wing-membrane is naked, and the joints of the fingers correspond with those of the vespertilio pruinosus, and the rest of the genus, as restricted by Geoffroy. The thumb is about two lines and a half long, laces its slender claw, which rather exceeds half a line. Height of ear . Breadth of ditto near the middle It is broader at the base. DIMENSIONS. Inches. _ Lines, Inches, Limes. Length of body and head 2 . " 1 10 Height of the tragus . ° . 0 4} 39 tail : ; : 1 6 Spread of wings from tip of the middle 55 head . ° 5 ° 0 finger of the right wing to the tip of 0 0 9 8 the corresponding finger of the left 4 wing . ° > . 10 0 This Bat is the most common species near the eastern base of the Rocky Moun- tains on the upper branches of the Saskatchewan and Peace Rivers. Mr. Say’s specimen was obtained near the head of the Arkansas, within sight of the moun- tains ; and the description he gives of it corresponds so nearly with my specimens, that I have no hesitation in considering them to be the same. Say’s Bat has a general resemblance to the Vespertilio pipistrellus of the British isles; but the latter has one grinder of a side fewer, weaker canine teeth, a smaller ear, and a shorter thumb and claw. Its fur is likewise shorter, and its back and belly do not exhibit such distinct shades of colour. It seems to approach near to the Vespertilio emarginatus of Geoffroy, as Mr. Say has remarked; but I have not been able to obtain a specimen of the latter with which I might compare it. The Carolina Bat differs in the shape of the tragus, which is semi-cordiform, but resembles this one nearly in the colour of the fur and in general form. > « MAMMALIA. 5 [3.] 1. Sorex Patustris. (Richardson.) American Marsh-Shrew. Genvs. Sorex. Linn, Sorex palustris, RicHarpDson. Zoological Journal, No. xii. April, 1828. S. (palustris ) caudé corpus longitudine excedenti, auriculis subvestitis vellere latentibus, corpore cinerascenti-nigro ; subter cinereo. Shrew, with the tail longer than the body, short hairy ears concealed by the fur, back somewhat hoary-black, belly ash-gray. DESCRIPTION. The dimensions of this animal are nearly the same with those of the Musaraigne de Daubenton, or Water Shrew of Pennant, and are considerably greater than those of the S. constrictus, with which it seems to have some relations. Dental formula ; intermediary incisors 2, lateral incisors $=} grinders = = 30. ‘The two posterior lateral incisors are smaller than the two anterior ones on the same side, and the latter are a little longer than the posterior lobes of the intermediary incisors. All the lateral incisors have small lobes on their inner sides. The tips of the teeth have a shining chestnut-brown colour, Form.—The muzzle is shorter in proportion and broader than that of the Sorex parvus. The whole upper lip is bordered with whiskers, and the tips of the posterior ones, which are the longest, reach behind the ears. The extremity of the muzzle is naked and two-lobed. The eyes are visible. The ear is shorter than the fur ; its inferior margin is folded in; there is a heart-shaped lobe covering the auditory opening, and a transverse fold above it. The ears, particularly the superior margins, are clothed with thick tufts of fur, like that on the rest of the head. The tail appears to be rounded, or slightly four-sided from its base, to near the tip, where it is compressed and terminated by a small pencil of hairs. It is covered by a close coat of short hair. The feet are clothed with rather coarse, short, adpressed hairs, those on the sides of the toes being arranged somewhat in a parallel manner, but not very distinctly. The fur resembles that of the mole in softness, closeness, and lustre. On the superior or dorsal aspect it is black, with a slightly hoary appearance when turned to the light. On the ventral aspect it is ash-coloured. At the roots it is bluish-gray. The outside of the thighs and upper surface of the tail correspond in colour with the back, the under surface of the tail and inside of the thighs with the belly, The feet are paler than the back and a little hoary. The nails are whitish, DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. Length from nose to origin of tail 5 3 6 Length of nose, from upper incisors, scarcely 0 2 =» of tail 2 7 Height of ear c . . » » 0 3 >» Of head , & ry, ee 1 2 Length of hind-foot from heel to end of the >» fromnosetoeye . A : 0 7 nails 4 , ; ~..0 9 6 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. This animal agrees with the S. constrictus in having two lateral incisors more in the upper jaw than some other species of the genus, but the Sorex brevicaudus of Say is described by Dr. Harlan as having five lateral incisors (‘ minute false molars ”’) on each side, and the same thing occurs in the following species. When compared with a specimen of the water-shrew in the British Museum, the colour of its fur appeared different, the points of the teeth darker, the ears smaller, and the tail longer than in the water-shrew. Several specimens of this animal were obtained, but the descriptions were drawn up from the prepared skins, and some uncertainty consequently exists as to the true shape of the tail. The S. palustris most probably lives in the summer on similar food with the water- shrew ; but I am at a loss to imagine how it procures a subsistence during the six months of the year in which the countries it inhabits are covered with snow. It frequents borders of lakes, and Hearne tells us that it often takes up its abode in beaver houses. [4.] 2. Sorex Forsreri. (Richardson.) Forster's Shrew-Mouse. Shrew, No. 20. Forster. Phil. Trans, vol. lxii, p. 381. Sorex Forsteri. Ricuarpson. Zool. Journ. No. 12, April, 1828. Sorex (Forsteri,) cauda tetragona longitudine corporis, auriculis brevibus vestitis, dorso xerampelino, ventre murino. Forster’s Shrew-mouse, with a square tail as long as the body, short furry ears, back of a clove-brown colour, belly pale yellowish-brown. This little animal is common throughout the whole of the fur countries to the 67th degree of latitude, and its minute foot-prints are seen every where in the winter, when the snow is sufficiently fine to retain the impression. I have often traced its pathway to a stalk of grass, by which it appears to descend from the surface of the snow, but a search for its habitation by removing the snow was invariably fruitless. I was unable to procure a recent specimen, and the following description is drawn up from one prepared by Mr. Drummond. It is the smallest quadruped the Indians are acquainted with, and they preserve skins of it in their conjuring bags. The power of generating heat must be very great in this diminutive creature to preserve its slender limbs from freezing when MAMMALIA, 7 the temperature sinks 40 or 50 degrees below zero. The Sorex Forsteri ap- proaches the S. tetragonurus of Desmarest in dimensions, and agrees with it in some other points. DESCRIPTION. Dental formula, interm. incisors , lateral incisors =, grinders =, = 32. The teeth are white, brightly tinged with chestnut brown on the points, The upper intermediary incisors have each a posterior obtuse lobe. The lateral incisors of the upper jaw are crowded and somewhat tiled ; the four anterior ones of a side are broad and obtusely conical, the fifth is flattish on the crown. The first grinder is smaller than either of the two which succeed it; and the fourth is the smallest of all. In the lower jaw the intermediary incisors have two distinct obtuse posterior lobes, and a slight undulation producing the rudi- ment of a lobe towards their points: the lateral incisors, have a central mammillary point ; and the anterior grinder isa little larger than the other two. The muzzle is very slender, and has a naked and a deeply lobed tip. The whiskers reach to the occiput, and are composed of a few white hairs, intermixed with many black ones. The car is as long as the fur of the head, and is clothed within and without, but particularly on its margins, and folds, with hairs of the same colour and length of those on the crown of the head. It is rounded, but from a small fold of its upper margin appears pointed. Its circumference is ample for the size of the animal. There is a semicircular lobe projecting from the inferior margin of the ear, and covering the auditory opening, and above it there isa _transverse fold. The ear is not perceptible until the fur is blown aside. The fur forms a fine, short, close coat, which on the dorsal aspect of the animal has a grayish-brown or clove- brown colour, and on the ventral aspect a dull yellowish-brown. The tail is four-sided and tapers gradually from the root to its extremity, which is terminated by a pencil of hairs. It is covered with dark-brown hair above, and pale, yellowish-brown hair beneath, The feet are five-toed, and are clothed with short, adpressed, pale yellowish-brown hairs. The nails are slender and white. DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines, Length of head and body . - 2 3 Length from upper incisors to nostrils. 0 2 a3) Of tail, U2 5 4 C 1 3 Height of the ear : é 2 3 0 2 > of head 2 ° ’ . « 0 9% > 8 . NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. [5.] 3. Sorex Parvus. (Say?) Small Shrew-Mouse. Sorex parvus. Say. Long’s Expedition, vol.i, p. 163 ? Sorex, No. 89. Museum ov tHe ZooLoGicaL Sociery. There is a specimen of a shrew-mouse in the Museum of the Zoological Society, - ‘which answers nearly to the description of the Sorex parvus by Say, except that its tail is considerably longer. Not to add unnecessarily to the number of specific names, I have adopted Mr. Say’s, until a comparison of authentic specimens shall determine whether it belongs to the same or a different species. Forster, in the Philosophical Transactions, mentions the Sorex aranews as an inhabitant of Hudson’s Bay. The large naked ears of that species would distinguish it at once from the S. parvus. Duscriprion of the specimen in the Zoological Museum. Form.—Ears very short, and indicated only by a brownish tuft of hair, deotiet than the rest of the fur. Muzzle more slender than that of S. palustris, but not so much so as that of 8. For- steri. The tail is apparently cylindrical the greater part of its length, pointed and perhaps slightly compressed at the tip. The fur, from its root to near the tip, has a dark blackish-gray colour, but from its closeness only the tips are seen, and on the back they have a brownish- black colour, on the head and sides brownish-gray, and on the belly ash-gray. The feet have a brownish tinge. ‘The pestis of the teeth are dark reddish-brown. DIMENSIONS, Inches. Lines. Length of head and body , 5 ‘ 2 9 On tail . ‘ ‘ a ‘ i 1 9 Bn from nostrils to incisors : ve 0 1k Mr. Collie, surgeon of his Majesty’s ship Blossom, caught a Shrew-mouse on the shores of Behring’s Straits, which he describes as having a dark brownish-: gray colour above, and a gray tint beneath. It measured, from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail, two inches and four lines, and its tail was one inch long. This specimen agrees still more nearly with Mr. Say’s description than the one in the Zoological Museum does, and if it is allowed to be of the same species, it gives to the Sorex parvus a range of twenty-three degrees of latitude. MAMMALIA. 9] [6.] 1. Scatops Canapensis. (Cuvier.) Shrew-Mole.* Genus. Scalops. Cuvier. Brown Mole. PenNNaNnT. Arctic Zool., vol.i. p. 141. Sorex aquaticus. Lin. Syst. Musaraigne-taupe. Cuvier. Tab. Elém. Scalope de Canada. Cuvier. Régne An., vol.i. p. 134. Shrew-Mole. Gopman. Nai. Hist. vol. i. p. 84, t. v. fig. 3. Mole. Lewis anDCLarKE. Journey, &c., vol. iii. p. 42. DESCRIPTION. Dental formula, incisors 2, grinders 5 = 44. The two wpper incisors have an exact resemblance, in shape and position, to the two middle incisors of man. ‘They occupy the end of the jaw, and are twice as broad, and somewhat higher than the grinders which immediately follow. The four first grinders of a side are conical, and obscurely three-sided. The fifth is a little compressed, and has a minute pro- jection at its base posteriorly. The sixth is still more compressed, and has a larger posterior projection. These six anterior grinders (termed conical teeth or false grinders by some authors) are nearly equal to each other in height, and occupy the whole jaw between the incisors and posterior higher grinders. ‘They stand at equal but small distances from each other, and from the incisors, not exceeding the quarter of the breadth of a single tooth. The four posterior grinders are larger, and rather exceed the incisors in height. The first of them, or seventh grinder, does not differ much from the preceding one; it is compressed, has an acute lobe posteriorly, and a minute one on the inside anteriorly. The two next grinders are composed of two exterior triangular folds of enamel, and one interior one, producing, besides some subordinate points, three conspicuous sharp ones, of which the interior one is lower than the other two. The tenth or last grinder is smaller than the two which precede it. In the lower jaw, there are two incisors, shaped like the upper ones, but much smaller and lower than the closely adjoining grinders. They are succeeded on each side by seven small conical but rather obtuse grinders, which are flat on the inside. These teeth are close to each other, but do not touch, and they have their points gently inclined forwards. They increase gradually but slightly in height, in proportion as they are situated further from the incisors ; and the three which are farthest back have a minute projection at their bases posteriorly. The foremost of these conical teeth on each side, which is almost in contact with the incisors, closely resembles the two which follow it; but it is by many considered as an incisor, and when one or both lower ‘incisors have dropped out, it does indeed approach to its fellow, and then becomes more opposed to the upper incisors. They stand, like the other grinders, * The English trivial name of Shrew-mole is a translation of Pennant’s epithet Sorex talpeformis, or of Cuvier’s Musaraigne-taupe, and is adopted from Dr, Godman. Cc 10 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. in the plane of the limbs of the jaw, or nearly at a right angle with the planes of the incisors. The three posterior lower grinders of each side resemble the upper ones reversed, but have no lobe corresponding to the interior one of the upper teeth. They rise more above the sockets than the upper grinders do, and they have, as Dr. Godman has observed, a considerable resemblance to the grinders of a Bat. In old individuals, all the teeth are worn down and have rounded crowns. The Shrew-mole has a thick cylindrical body, like that of the Common Mole, without any distinct neck. Its limbs are very short, being concealed by the skin of the body nearly down to the wrist and ankle-joints, The fore-extremities are situated nearly under the auditory opening. The moveable snout is almost linear, and projects about four lines and a half beyond the incisors. It is naked towards its extremity, particularly above ; below, it is thinly clothed with hairs for about two-thirds of its length next the incisors. There is a conspicuous furrow, extending nearly its whole length, on the upper surface ; and, beneath, there is also a furrow, reaching half its length from the incisors. Beyond the latter, the snout is transversely wrinkled beneath; and its small, flat, or truncated extremity is smooth and callous. The small oblong nostrils open in an inclined space, immediately above this circular callous end. The eyes are concealed by the fur, and scarcely to be found in the dried specimen*. The auditory openings are covered by the fur, and there is no external ear. The tai is thickest about one-third from its root, and tapers from thence to its tip, which is acute. It is whitish, and is sparingly clothed with short hairs. Its vertebrae are equally four-sided. The fore- arm, rather slender, and projecting only about three lines from the body, is, consequently, concealed by the far. The five fingers, extremely short, and united to the roots of the nails, form, with the wrist, a large, nearly circular palm. The nails of all the fingers are large, white, and have a semi-lanceolate form, with narrow, but rather obtuse points. They are nearly straight, convex above, and slightly hollowed beneath. The middle one is the largest, the others gradually diminish on each side of it, and the exterior one is the smaliest of ail. The palms are turned outwards and backwards, and the whole fore-foot bears a close resem- blance to that of the Common Mole. The hind-feet are more slender than the fore ones, and the nails are one-half shorter, much more compressed, and sharper, and, in fact, nearly subu- late. They have a slight curvature laterally corresponding with the direction of the toes inwards, and are somewhat arched, but cannot be said to be in any manner hooked. They are excavated underneath. The fore and hind feet are thinly clothed above with adpressed, pale hairs. The palms and soles are naked, but are bordered posteriorly with white hairs, which curve a little over them. . The fur has the same velvety appearance with that which clothes the Common Mole, It has considerable lustre on the surface; and, in most lights, exhibits a brownish-black tint. When blown aside, it shews a greyish-black colour, from the roots to near the tips. It has the same colour over the whole body, but there is a slight tinge of chestnut-brown on the forehead and about the base of the snout, and on the throat it is shorter and paler. . ® Dr. Godman informs us, that the aperture in the skin is just big enough to admit an ordinary sized human hair, MAMMALIA. TE DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. Length of head and body 7 8 Length from wrist joint to tip of the middle nail 1 0 re tail c 1 6 3 heel to end of middle claw 0 10 oe fore-palm 0 6 Greatest breadth of the hind-foot . 0 3 Breadth of fore-palm é 0 7 Distance from auditory opening to the end Length of middle fore-nail 0 6 of the snout 2 ; z 1 1 The animal described above inhabits the banks of the Columbia and the adjoin- ing coasts of the Pacific in considerable numbers, and is, doubtless, the mole mentioned by Lewis and Clarke as resembling, in all respects, the mole of the United States. Sir Alexander Mackenzie saw many animals, which he terms *<moles,”’ on the banks of a small stream near the sources of the Columbia; but as we are led to infer, from the way in which he speaks of them, that they were in numbers above ground, I am inclined to think that they were sewellels, belonging to the genus aplodentia, and not Shrew-moles*. I did not obtain recent speci- mens of the Shrew-mole on the late expedition, and am unable to say what are the exact limits of its range to the northward. I do not think, however, that it ean exist, at least on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, beyond the fiftieth degree of latitude, because the earth-worm on which the Scalops, like the Com- mon Mole, principally feeds, is unknown in the Hudson’s Bay countries. On the milder Pacific shore, it may, perhaps, reach a somewhat higher latitude. ‘There are two specimens of the Shrew-mole from the Columbia preserved in the Museum of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and Mr. David Douglas has kindly furnished me with others which he obtained in the same quarter. The Columbia animal seems to be of larger dimensions, and has a longer tail than the Shrew-moles of the United States; but I have not detected any other peculiarities by which it might be characterised as a distinct species. Authors, probably from their specimens being’ of different ages, have varied considerably in their descriptions of the dentition of the Scalops, and several of them have mentioned edentate spaces between the incisors and grinders. In the adult animal, from which my descrip- tion was taken, no such spaces exist. In a large and apparently very old individual, the incisors, and all the small grinders, are so worn and rounded, as to appear like a row of small pearls set in the jaw. Baron Cuvier informs us, that the animals of the genus Scalops unite to the teeth of the Desmans (mygale) ; and the simply pointed muzzle of the Shrews, large hands, armed with strong nails, fitted for digging into the earth, and entirely similar to those of the Moles. It is evident, from my description of the teeth of the Columbia Shrew-mole, that * Mackenzie's Voyage to the Pacific, &c. p. 314. C2 12 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. they approach closely to those of the Desmans, there being merely some not very important variations in the shape, particularly of the upper incisors *. The Shrew-mole resembles the Common European Mole in its habits, in leading a subterranean life, forming galleries, throwing up little mounds of earth, and in feeding principally on earth-worms and grubs. Dr. Godman has given a detailed and interesting account of their manners, particularly of one which was domesticated by Mr. Titian Peale. He mentions that they are most active early in the morn- ing, at mid-day, and in the evening, and that they are well known in the country to have the remarkable custom of coming daily to the surface exactly at noon. They may then be taken alive by thrusting a spade beneath them and throwing them on the surface, but can scarcely be caught at any other period of the day. They burrow in a variety of soils, and in wet seasons are observed to retreat to the higher grounds. The captive one in possession of Mr. Peale ate considerable quantities of fresh meat, either cooked or raw, drank freely, and was remarkably lively and playful, following the hand of its feeder by the scent,—burrowing, for a short distance, in the loose earth, and, after making a small circle, returning for more food. When engaged in eating, he employed his flexible snout in a singular manner to thrust the food into his mouth, doubling it so as to force it directly backwards. From the great resemblance of the Shrew-mole to the common one, they might be readily mistaken for each other by a casual observer; and Bartram and others, who have asserted the existence of a species of the genus talpa in America, are, on this account, supposed, by later writers, to have been mistaken. There are, however, several true moles in the Museum of the Zoological Society which were brought from America, and which differ from the ordinary European species in being of a smaller size, and in having a shorter and thicker snout. Their fur is brownish-black. -I could not learn what district of America they came from. * Thave termed “first grinders” the teeth named “inferior lateral incisors” by Cuvier, because they have an exact resemblance to the other small grinders in form and size. ie - MAMMALIA. 13 [7.] 1. Conpyturs Loneicaupata. Cllliger.) Long-tailed Star-nose. Long-tailed Mole. Pennant. Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 232. 2.90. f.2. Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 140. Talpa longicaudata. ErxLEBEIN. Syst., tom.i. p. 118. Condylure 4 longue queue. Desmarest. Mamm., tom.i. p. 158. Condylura longicaudata. Haran. Faun., p. 38. Naspass-kasic. CHippEWways, and SauLTEUR InpD1aANs. _ The Zoological Society recently obtained several specimens of a Star-nose from Moose Factory, Hudson’s Bay, which agree so closely with Pennant’s description of his Long-tailed Mole, that I have had no hesitation in referring it to that species. They were not accompanied by any account of their habits, or notice of the exact locality where they were killed ; but as the most southern fur posts depending upon Moose Factory are situated upon the borders of Lake Superior, it is probable that they came from that quarter. Pennant’s specimen was received from New York. Ti is remarkable that M. Desmarest, who derives all his knowledge of this animal from Pennant, should make “point des crétes nasales” part of its essential cha- racter. In the History of Quadrupeds, it is termed the ‘ Long-tailed Mole with a radiated nose; ”’ and in Arctic Zoology, it is said to have ‘“‘the nose long, the end radiated with short tendrils.” Perhaps M. Desmarest was misled by the miserable figure in the History of Quadrupeds. DESCRIPTION. The Long-tailed Star-nose has a thick body, with a long head, tapering towards the end of the nose, which is furnished with a cartilaginous fringe, having eighteen rays in the circum- ference, and two shorter bifid ones attached beneath the nostrils. The body is covered with a soft, short, velvety coat of fur of a brownish-black colour on the surface, and a bluish-black hue towards the roots. The nose is of the same colour with the body. ‘The tail, slender and tapering, is covered with short hair, and is about one-third shorter than the body. Its vertebrze are equally four-sided. ‘The extremities are short, and bear a resemblance to those of the Common Mole. The palms are not so broad as those of the Mole, but have a similar form. They are naked ; and the back of the hand is covered with scales, with a few intermixed hairs. The claws are large, white, convex, linear, and obtuse. The hind extremities are longer than the fore ones. The legs, short and slender, are thinly covered with hair. The feet are longer and narrower than the hands, covered above as far as the ankle-joint with scales. The hind- claws are white, narrow, and sharp-pointed DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines. Length of head and body é . . . 4 9 a tail . . F . : : 2 9 a head a ¢ ; 5 b 1 3 14 NORTHERN ZOOLCGY. [8.] 1. Ursus Americanus. (Pallas.) American Black-Bear. Black Bear. PENNANT. Arct. Zool., vol.i. p. 57, and Introduction, p. cxx. Hist. Quad., vol. ii, p. 11. WarveENn. United States, vol. i. p. 195. Gopman. Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 194. Ursus Americanus. Patxas. Spicel. Zool. vol. xiv. p. 6—26. Harian. Fauna, p.5l. Sass. CHEPEWYAN INDIANS. Musquaw (pl. musquawuck). Cree InpD1ans, or, when reference is made to the black colour of the fur, it is termed cuskeeteh musquaw. ‘The cinnamon-coloured variety is named oosaw-wusquaw, the first letter of the proper name being altered euphonie causa. Mucquaw. Axtconauins. Maconsh (a young bear.) IDEM. The different species of Bears resemble each other so strongly in form ; and colour, when described by general and frequently indefined terms, affords so un- certain a mark of discrimination, that much doubt has arisen as to what are species and what merely varieties. These doubts can be removed only by a rigid com- parison of the skeletons of the different kinds, combined with careful observation of the habits of the animals in their native retreats, and a more attentive consider- ation of their geographical distribution than has hitherto been given. Buffon, classing the American and European Bears together, distinguishes two species of land Bear differing from each in colour and manners*. Naturalists of the present day are generally of opinion that there are two or more species of Bear in the northern parts of the New World, differmg specifically from those of the old continent. The Polar Bear is perhaps the only species which is common to both continents, but it may with justice be considered as a sea animal, inhabiting the ice floating between them. The Black Bear of America was first described as a distinct species by Pallas, and with reason, although some late writers continue to confound it with the Black Bear of Europe f. It has a milder disposition, and lives more on vegetable * “Tl faut distinguer,” dit-il, ‘¢ deux espéces dans les ours terrestres, Jes bruns et les noirs, lesquels n’ayant pas les mémes appetits naturels, ne peuvent pas étre considérés comme deux espéces distinctes et séparées. De plus, U’ours blanc terrestre n’est qu’une variété de l’une ou de l’autre de ces espéces. Nous comprenons ici sous la dénomination d’ours bruns, ceux qui sont bruns, fauves, roux, rougeatres, et par celle d’ours noirs ceux qui sont noiratres aussi bien que tout @ fait noirs.”—Burron, Hist. Nat., vol. viii. p, 248. + Baron Cuvier, in his elaborate work Sur les Ossemens Fossiles, distinguishes the ursus niger Europeus from the European Brown Bear, or ursus arctos of authors. The ursus niger has the frontal bone of its cranium flattened, especially transversely, and separated from the temporal depressions by well marked ridges, which unite behind at an acute angle to form an elevated sagittal crest. Its fur is blackish, rough, and more or less woolly. The well marked depressions and ridges of the cranium giving lodgment and origin to the strong muscles of the lower jaw, shew that the Black Bear of Europe is more decidedly a beast of prey than the Brown one, in which respect they differ from the bears of corresponding colours which inhabit the New World. MAMMALIA, BS substances than the latter, and there are corresponding differences in the form of its cranium, which is shorter, with less convex zygomatic arches, and consequently a smaller space for lodging the crotaphite muscle. Its forehead is not flat like that of the Black Bear of Europe, but arched, although not so much so as the forehead of the Brown Bear. Its temporal ridges, however, are well marked, and unite to form a sagittal crest. Its nose is continued nearly on the same line with the forehead, and is rather arched, which produces the most striking peculiarity in the physio- enomy of this species. Its ears are high, oval, rounded at the tips, and far apart. The palms and soles of the feet are short in comparison with those of the Brown Bear. The fur on the body is long, straight, shining and black, and the mesial line of the nose is also black or very deep brown, but there is a large pale yellowish-brown patch on each side of the muzzle. The naked extremity of the nose is a little oblique, not being so directly truncated as that of the Brown Bear. The hair of the feet projects beyond the claws, which are black. The Cinnamon Bear of the Fur Traders is considered by the Indians to be an accidental variety of this species, and they are borne out in this opinion by the quality of the fur, which is equally fine with that of the Black Bear. The Yellow Bear of Carolina is also referred by Cuvier to this species, as is likewise the Ours Gulare of M. Geoffroy, which has a white throat. The white markings on the hroat of the animal, mentioned by the latter author, are perhaps analogous to the white collar which many of the European Brown Bears exhibit when young. Captain Cartwright remarks that the cubs of the Black Bear, on the Labrador coast, are often marked with white rings round the neck*, and Pennant notices the same thing of the bears of Hudson’s Bay. The Black Bear is smaller than the other American bears which we have to describe, the total length of an adult seldom exceeding five feet. Its favourite food appears to be berries of various kinds, but when these are not to be pro- cured, it preys upon roots, insects, fish, eggs, and such birds or quadrupeds as it can surprise. It does not eat animal food from choice; for when it has abundance of its favourite vegetable diet, it will pass the carcase of a deer without touching it. It is rather a timid animal, and will seldom face a man unless it is wounded, or has its retreat cut off, or is urged by affection to defend its young. In such cases its strength renders it a dangerous assailant. I have known the female confront her enemy boldly until she had seen her cubs attain the upper branches of a tree, when she made off, evidently considering them to be in safety, but in fact leaving * CaRTWRIGHT’s Journal of a Residence in Labrador. 16 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. them an easy prey to the hunter. The speed of the Black Bear when in pursuit is said not to be very great, and I have been told that a man may escape from it, particularly if he runs into a willow grove or amongst long grass: for the caution of the Bear obliges it to stop frequently and rise on its hind legs for the purpose of reconnoitring. I have, however, seen a Black Bear make off with a speed that would have baffled the fleetest runner, and ascend a nearly perpendicular cliff with a facility that a cat might envy. This Bear, when resident in the fur countries, almost invariably hibernates, sind about one thousand skins are annually procured by the Hudson’s Bay Company, from Black Bears destroyed in their winter retreats. It generally selects a spot for its den under a fallen tree, and having scratched away a portion of the soil, retires to it at the commencement of a snow-storm, when the snow soon furnishes it with a close, warm covering. Its breath makes a small opening in the den, and the quantity of hoar frost which occasionally gathers round the aperture serves to betray its retreat to the hunter. In more southern districts, where the timber is of a larger size, Bears often shelter themselves in hollow trees. The Indians remark that a Bear never retires to its den for the winter until it has acquired a thick coat of fat, and it is remarkable that when it comes abroad in the spring it is equally fat, though in a few days thereafter it becomes very lean. The period of the retreat of the Bears is generally about the time when the snow begins to lie on the ground, and they do not come abroad again until the greater part of the snow is gone. At both these periods they can procure many kinds of berries in considerable abundance. In latitude 65°, their winter repose lasts from the beginning of October to the first or second week of May; but on the northern shores of Lake Huron, the period is from two to three months shorter. In very severe winters, great numbers of Bears have been observed to enter the United States from the northward. On these occasions, they were very lean, and almost all males; the few females which accompanied them were not with young *. The remark of the natives above-mentioned, that the fat Bears alone hibernate, explains the cause of these migrations. The Black Bears in the northern districts couple in September, when they are in good condition from feeding on the berries then in maturity. The females retire at once to their dens, and conceal themselves so carefully that even the lyncean eye of an Indian hunter very rarely detects them ; but the males, exhausted by the pursuit of the female, require ten or twelve days to recover their lost fat. An unusually early winter will, it is evident, operate * PENNANT’S Arctic Zoology, vol. i. p. 60. MAMMALIA. 1¥ most severely on the males, by preventing them from fattening a second time ; hence their migration at such times to more southerly districts. It is not, how- ever, true that the Black Bears generally abandon the northern districts on the approach of winter, as has been asserted, the quantity of Bear skins procured during that season in all parts of the fur countries being a sufficient proof to the contrary. The females bring forth about the beginning of January, and it is pro- bable that the period of their gestation is about fifteen or sixteen weeks, but I believe it has not been precisely ascertained. The number of cubs varies from one to five, probably with the age of the mother, and they begin to bear long before they attain their full size. The Black Bear inhabits every wooded district of the American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Carolina to the shores of the Arctic sea. They are, however, more numerous inland than near the sea-coast. Langsdorff observes, that ‘‘ the valuable Black Bear, the skins of which form part of the (Russian) Company's stock, are not the produce of the Aleutian islands, but of the continent of America, about Cook’s river, Prince William’s Sound, and other places *. The strength and agility of the Bear, together with its tenacity of life, render an attack upon it hazardous, and its chace has been considered by the rude in- habitants of the northern regions as a matter of the highest importance. Many of the native tribes of America will not join the chace until they have propitiated the whole race of Bears by certain speeches and ceremonies, and when the animal is slain they treat it with the utmost respect, speak of it as of a relation, offer it a pipe to smoke, and seldom fail to make a speech in exculpation of the act of violence they have committed in slaying it, although the hunter at the same time glories in his prowess. ‘This veneration for the Bear seems to have arisen from the ability and pertinacity with which it defends itself; and it is interesting to observe in how similar a manner the same feeling manifests itself in tribes speak- ing diverse languages, and widely separated from each other by geographical position. Thus, Regnard informs us that the chase of the Bear is the most solemn action of the Laplander, and the successful hunter may be known by and exults in the number of tufts of bear’s hair he wears in his bonnet. When the retreat of a Bear is discovered, the ablest sorcerer of the tribe beats the runic drum‘ to discover the event of the chase, and the side on which the animal * LanesporFr’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 74. + The same kind of drum, shaped like a double-headed tambourine, and painted with arbitrary characters or rude representations of wild beasts and of the heavenly bodies, is common throughout all the various North American tribes. D 18. NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. ought to be assailed. During the attack, the hunters join in a prescribed chorus, and beg earnestly of the Bear that he will do them no mischief. When they have killed him, they put the body into a sledge to carry it home ; the rein-deer which has been employed to draw it, is exempted from labour during the rest of the year; and means are also taken to prevent it from approaching any female. A new hut is constructed expressly for the purpose of cooking the flesh; and the huntsmen, joined by their wives, begin again their songs of joy, and of thanks to the animal for permitting them to return in safety *. Leems also acquaints us, that the Laplanders never presume to call the Bear by its proper*name of Guourlja, but term it “ the old man in the fur cloak,” because they esteem it to have the strength of ten men and the sense of twelve t. It is also said that the Bear is the great master of the Kamskatkans in medicine, surgery, and the polite arts. They observe the herbs he has recourse to when ill or wounded, and acknowledge him as their dancing-master, mimicking his attitudes and graces with great aptness{. Bear-dances, in which the gestures of the. animal are copied, are also common with the North American Indians. The following extract § from the narrative of Mr. Alexander Henry, one of the first Englishmen who penetrated into the fur countries after the reduction of Canada under the British arms, will serve to contrast the manners of the Indians with those of the Laplanders, and it contains besides some remarks on the habits of the Bear peculiarly valuable as coming from an eye-witness worthy of all credit. “ Tn the course of the month of January, (whilst on the banks of Lake Michigan,) I happened to observe that the trunk of a very large pine-tree was much torn by the claws of a bear, made both in going up and down. On further examination, I saw that there was a large opening in the upper part, near which the smaller branches were broken. From these marks, and from the additional circum- stance that there were no tracks on the snow, there was reason to believe that a Bear lay concealed in the tree. On returning to the lodge, | communicated my discovery ; and it was agreed that all the family should go together, in the morn- ing, to assist in cutting down the tree, the girth of which was not less than three fathoms. The women, at first, opposed the undertaking, because our axes being only of a pound and a half weight, were not well adapted to so heavy a labour; but the hope of finding a large Bear, and obtaining from its fat a great quantity * REGNARD’s Journ. to Lapland. (PINKERTON’s Voy. vol. i. p. 194.) + Lerms’s Danish Lapland. (Idem. vol. i. p. 485.) +. Arctic Zoology, vol. i. p. 65. Introd.,’p. cxx. § Henry's Travels, p. 142. ..” MAMMALIA, 19 of oil, an article at the time much wanted, at length prevailed. Accordingly, in the morning, we surrounded the tree, both men and women, as-many at a time as could conveniently work at it; and there we toiled, like beavers, till the sun went down. This day’s work carried us about half-way through the trunk; and the next morning we renewed the attack, continuing it till about two o’clock in the _afternoon, when ‘the tree fell to the ground. For a few minutes every thing remained quiet, and I feared that all our expectations were disappointed; but as I advanced to the opening, there came out, to the great satisfaction of all our party, a Bear of extraordinary size, which, before she had proceeded many yards, I shot. . “< The Bear being dead, all my assistants approached, and all, but more par- ticularly my old mother, (as I was wont to call her,) took his head in their hands, stroking and kissing it several times; begging a thousand pardons for taking away her life; calling her their relation and grandmother ; and requesting her not to lay the fault upon them, since it was truly an Englishman that had put her to death. ‘This ceremony was not of long duration ; and if it was I that killed their grandmother, they were not themselves behind hand in what remained to be per- formed. ‘The skin being taken off, we found the fat in several places six inches deep. This being divided into two parts loaded two persons; and the flesh parts were as much as four persons could carry. In all, the carcase must have exceeded five hundred weight. As soon as we reached ithe lodge, the Bear’s head was adorned with all the trinkets in the possession of the family, such as silver arm- bands, and wrist-bands, and belts of wampum ; and then laid upon a scaffold, set up for its reception, within the lodge. Near the nose was placed a large quantity of tobacco. ** The next morning no sooner appeared, than preparations were made for a feast to the manes. The lodge was cleaned.and swept; and the head of the Bear lifted up, and a new stroud blanket, which had never been used before, spread under it. The pipes were now lit; and Wawatam blew tobacco-smoke into the nostrils of the Bear, telling me to do the same, and thus appease the anger of the Bear, on account of my having killed her. I endeavoured to persuade my bene- factor and friendly adviser, that she no longer had any life, and assured him that I was under no apprehension from her displeasure ; but the first proposition obtained no credit, and the second gave but little satisfaction. At length the feast being ready, Wawatam made a speech, resembling, in many things, his address to the manes of his relations and departed companions; and we then all D2 20 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. ate heartily of the Bear’s flesh. It is only the female Bear that makes her winter lodging in the upper parts of trees, a practice by which her young are secured from the attacks of wolves and other animals. She brings forth in the winter- season ; and remains in her lodge till the cubs have gained some strength. The male always lodges in the ground, under the roots of trees. He takes to this habitation as soon as the snow falls, and remains there till it has disappeared. The Indians remark, that the Bear comes out in the spring with the same fat which he carries in in the autumn; but, after the exercise of only a few days, becomes lean. Excepting for a short part of the season, the male lives con- stantly alone.” La Hontan* has also given a very full account of the ceremonies attending a Bear-hunt by the Canadian Indians, which does not differ greatly from Mr. Henry’s. The women of the Chepewyan and Dog-rib tribes will not touch a bear’s skin, nor even step over it; so that one spread at the door of a tent is an effectual bar against female intruders. Even the men of some of the tribes refuse to eat bear’s flesh, or pemmican which contains bear’s grease. The Laplanders, also, prohibit their women from eating certain portions of a bear. ‘The flesh of a bear, when in good condition, resembles greasy and rather flabby pork ; and when the animal has been fed on the sea-coast, and by the banks of rivers, has also a fishy taste. The skin of a Black Bear, with the fur in prime order, and the claws appended, was, at one period, worth from twenty to forty guineas, and even more, but at present the demand for them is so small, from their being little used either for muffs or hammercloths, that the best, I believe, sell for less than forty shillings. * La Hontan, Journal de Voy., vol. v. p. 169, et seg. See alsoScnHootcrort’s Narrative, &c., p. 183. . MAMMALIA. 21 ]9.] » 2. Ursus Arctos? Americanus. Barren-ground Bear. Grizzly Bear. Hearnz’s Journey, passim. Brown Bear, variety 3, Grizzly. Prennant’s 4rct. Zool. vol. i. p. 62. The Brown Bears of America are, by some authors, supposed to be merely varieties of the Black Bear of the preceding article; whilst others have con- sidered them to belong to a distinct species, whose identity, however, with the Brown Bear of Europe has not been ascertained; neither has any one given it a new specific appellation. ‘The obscurity in which the subject is involved has been increased by the accounts received from the natives of another species, named the Grisly Bear (Ursus ferox) having been amalgamated with the descriptions that authors have given of their Brown Bear. Warden* mentions a Brown Bear under the appellation ofthe “ Ranging Bear,” and says that it has the general shape of the Black Bear, but that its body and legs are longer, and that it is more ferocious when wounded. It is said to be an inhabitant of the United States, par- ticularly of the western districts; but it never came under our notice, and the remainder of this article has no relation to it. From the inquiries I made through- out the woody country from Lake Superior to Great Slave Lake, being ten degrees of latitude, I learnt that the natives of those districts are acquainted with only two species of Land Bear, viz., the Common Black Bear, including the cinna- mon-coloured and other varieties, and the Grisly Bear, which is confined to the lofty chain of the Rocky Mountains, and the extensive plains that skirt their bases. The barren lands, however, lying to the northward and eastward of Great Slave Lake, and extending to the Arctic Sea, are frequented by a species of Bear, which differs from the American Black Bear in its greater size, profile, physiognomy, longer soles, and tail; and from the Grisly Bear also, in colour and the compa- rative smallness of its claws. Its greatest affinity is with the Brown Bear of Norway ; but its identity with that species has not been established by actual comparison. It frequents the sea-coast in the autumn in considerable numbers, for the purpose of feeding on fish, The general colour of this Bear is a dusky-(or sometimes yellowish)-brown, but * WaRDEN’s United States. 92 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. the shoulders and flanks are, in the summer season at least, covered with long hair, which is frequently very pale towards the tips. The Indians and interpreters, who are not very precise in their application of the few terms they have to express varieties of colour, often denominate them ‘‘ White Bears.’’ Hearne calls them ‘‘ Grizzly Bears,” and some confusion has been produced by late writers having applied the same name to Lewis and Clark’s Ursus ferox. Pennant, who describes them as a variety of the American Black Bear, considers them at the same time to be of the same species with the ‘Silver Bear’’ that inhabits the north of Europe. It is, indeed, very probable, that the Brown Bear which Captain King informed Pennant was an inhabitant of Kamskatka, is of this species, which may, in fact, extend all.along the north of the old continent; but this, in the present state of our knowledge, is mere matter of conjecture. Mention is made in the narrative of Cook’s third voyage * of Bears of a brown or sooty colour inhabiting the American coast near Cook’s river. Langsdorff also informs us that Brown and Red Bears are abundant on the Aleutian Islands, where the Black Bear does not exist t. These authors do not furnish us with any details whereby the species may be determined ; but the Bears they mention live in similar districts with the Barren-ground Bear, and differ in that respect ‘from the Ursus ferox, which exists principally, perhaps only, in the buffalo districts. The Indians dread the Barren-ground Bears, and are careful to avoid burning bones in their hunting encampments, lest the smell should attract them. Keskarrah, an old Indian mentioned in the Narrative of Captain Franklin’s first Journey, was seated at the door of his tent, pitched by a small stream not far from Fort Enterprise, when a large Bear came to the opposite bank, and remained for some time apparently surveying him. Keskarrah considering him- self to be in great danger, and having no one to assist him but his aged wife, made a speech to the following effect: ‘‘Oh Bear! I never did you any harm; I have: always had the highest respect for you and your relations, and never killed any of them except through necessity. Go away, good Bear, and let me alone, and I promise not to molest you.” The Bear walked off; and the old man, fancying that he owed his safety to his eloquence, favoured us, on his arrival at the fort, with his speech at length. The Copper Indians often cautioned us against these “ White Bears” of the barren lands, which they said would attack us if they saw us, but we received no such caution in travellmg through the districts * Coox’s Third Voyage, vol. ii. p. 376. + Lanesporrr’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 74. MAMMALIA. 23 frequented by the Black Bear. It does not, however, possess the boldness of the Ursus ferox, as all the individuals we saw fled at once. The Barren-ground Bear resorts to the coast of the Arctic Sea in the month of August, and preys indis- criminately upon animal and vegetable matters. In the stomach of one which I opened there were the remains of a seal, a marmot, a large quantity of the long sweet roots of some astragali and hedysara, together with some berries, and a little grass. Many long white worms adhered to the interior of the stomach which held this farrago. Hearne has given the name of Grizzle Bear Hill to an eminence which had been much ploughed up by the Bears in quest of the Arctomys Parryt, termed by him “ Ground Hog.’’ The appellation of “ grizzly,” first used by Hearne to designate this Bear, being also applied by the traders and American authors to the Ursus feror, I have given this one the ad interim name of Barren-ground Bear, until its difference from, or identity with, the Ursus. arctos of Linneus be fully established *. DESCRIPTION. We saw several of these animals during Captain Franklin’s first Expedition. An old and lean male, killed on the shores of the Arctic Sea on the Ist of August, 1821, was of a nearly uniform yellowish-brown colour, except on the forehead and back, where the tips of the fur were paler. The fur, which was straight, and of the fineness of coarse wool, was giving place to a thin coat of blackish hair. Its forehead was broad, and slightly convex, and the arch of the orbit rose conspicuously at the root of the nose, which was straight. The legs were long, and the claws, of an intermediate size between those of the Black and Grisly Bears, projected beyond the hairs, and were more pointed than the claws of the latter. Dental formula, incisors =, canines =, spurious molars =, grinders #3 = 36, The incisors were worn flat, except one on each side, which adjoined the canine-teeth, and which rose in a point above the others. The canines strong, conical, and slightly curved, projected an inch and a quarter above the gums. Two small and pointed spurious molar- teeth (dents espacées) rose on each side of the upper jaw, and were succeeded by three tuberculated molars that increased in size from the first to the last. The first of these was pointed anteriorly, and had a lobe posteriorly which exhibited the section of two points. The other two were worn quite flat; the second, or carnivorous-tooth, presented the section of two pairs of points ; and the last, and largest, the section of three pairs. In the lower jaw, one small spurious molar-tooth was situated close to the canines. The first of the true molars was pointed, without any flattened lobe; the remaining three differed little from each other in size, though the middle one was rather the largest; and their crowns were worn so smooth, that no vestige remained of the points they originally possessed. * In the appendix to Captain Parry’s second voyage, from a hasty consideration of the subject, I erroneously stated the Barren-ground Bear to be the brown variety of the American Black Bear. 24 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. The dimensions of this individual were as follows * :-— Feet. Inches, Feet. Inches. — Length from the muzzle to the root of the tail 5 2 Length from anterior angle of the eye to the 5 Of tail A . . . 0 6 centre of the auditory opening . 0 10 Height from the sole of the fore-foot to the Distance from the tip of one ear to the tip top of the shoulder . Q ° » 2 9 of the other . s . 0 10 >> Of hind-quarters . . 52 6 Breadth of fore-foot, which was nearly cir- Length of muzzle from the nostrils to the an- cular 4 . - - 0 6 terior angle of the eye ; . 0 6 Length of the sole of the hind-foot - 0 10 [10.] 3. Ursus rerox. (Lewis and Clark.) Grisly Bear. Grizzle Bear. UmrreviLLe’s Hudson’s Bay, p. 168. An. 1790. Grisly Bear. MackErnzir’s Voyage, &c., p. 160. An. 1801. White, or brown-gray Bear. Gass’ Journal of Lewis and Clark's Expedition, pp. 45, 116, 346. An. 1808. Grisly, brown, white, and variegated Bear, (Ursus ferox) Lewis and Cranx’s Voyages, &c., vol. i. pp. 284, 293, 343, 375 ; vol. iii, pp. 25, 268. Anno 1814. Cuinron, Trans. Philos. and Liter. New York, vol. i. pp. 56, 114. An. 1815. Grizzly Bear. Wanrprn’s United States, vol. i. p.197. An. 1819. Grey Bear. Harmon’s Journey, p.417. An. 1820, Ursus Cinereus. Drsmanest’s Mammal. No. 253. An. 1820. Ursus horribilis. Say, Long's Expedition, vol. ii. p. 244, note 34. An, 1822. Ursus Candescens. HamittTon Surtn, Griffith’s An. Kingdom, vol. ii. p. 229, and vol. v. No. 320. An. 1826. Grizzly Bear. Gopman's Nat. Hist., vol.i. p. 131. An. 1826. Meesheh musquaw. Crer InpDIAns. Hohbhost. Cuorunnisu Inp1ans (Lewis and Clark). PLATE I. This animal has long been known to the Indians and fur traders as a distinet species, inferior to all the varieties of the Black Bear in the quality of its fur, and distinguished by its great strength and ferocity, its carnivorous disposition, the length of its claws, the breadth and length of its soles, and the shortness of its tail. _ It has attracted the attention of almost all travellers who have passed through the districts it inhabits, and is mentioned in several of the earlier French writers on America under the title of Ours blanc, not that it is ever seen of a white colour like the Polar Bear, but because the Canadian Coureurs des bois who were, and who remain to this day, almost the only interpreters of the Indian languages, translated. * Baron Cuvier describes the Ursus Arctos, or Brown Bear of Europe, as having the upper part of its cranium arched longitudinally and rounded laterally ; the forehead and occiput forming parts of the same curve, and there being no well-defined line of separation between the forehead, the middle portion of the parietal bones, and the temporal fosses. The sagittal suture beginning to be sensibly marked very near the occipital bones, and the nasal bones to be set in rather obliquely to the rounded forehead, producing the appearance of a depression at the root of the nose. The sole of the hind-foot is of moderate length.— Ossemens Fossiles, SS SQ Z Yelp, JEW / —_ é ‘ } ah, 1% * An WY rawr } : ” MAMMALIA. 25 the terms used by the different tribes to signify hoary or light coloured, by the general epithet of blanc. Lewis and Clark, in their ably-executed Journey to the Shores of the Pacific, had numerous opportunities of observing its manners, and by their ample descriptions, first enabled naturalists to class it as a distinct species. It is true that Forster, long before, in his translation of Bossu’s Travels, had intimated that the “‘ White Bear of Louisiana’’ must be distinct from the Polar Bear, which it resembled in size, but the remark was suffered to pass unheeded. De Witt Clinton, in his discourse at the Institution of the New York Literary and Philosophical Scciety, is the first naturalist who, judging from Lewis and Clark’s account, clearly asserted that this animal was specifically different from either the Polar or common American Bears. Since that time the various synonymes prefixed to this article, in the order of their publication, have been assigned to it. The English name of Grisly has been adopted in this work as being less liable to objection than one founded on colour alone ; and the Latin translation of it, feroxr, which, as far as I have been able to ascertain, first occurs in Desmarest, and seems preferable to cinereus, is used for the specific appellation. Mr. Say, in the account of Major Long’s Expedition, gives a description of the Grisly Bear, drawn up from male and female specimens, preserved in the Phila- delphia Museum, and which, having been brought up in a state of confinement, were killed before they arrived at maturity. Figures of these specimens have been published in the American edition of Long’s Expedition, and in Godman’s Natural History. A young cub, caught on the Rocky Mountains, being brought to England by the Hudson’s Bay Company about eight years ago, has been kept in the Tower ever since, and there is a spirited engraving of it by Landseer, in Griffith’s Animal Kingdom. The etching, forming plate first of this work, is by the same able artist, the head being from that of an adult male, brought home by Mr. Drummond, and the form of the body and attitudes from the individual in the Tower, Iwas present at the death of a young Grisly Bear, killed at Carlton- house on the Saskatchewan. It was a male, in its second year, which being pur- sued by mounted hunters, was overtaken after an hour’s chase, through snow one foot deep. The hunters approached boldly, trusting in the fleetness of their horses ; although, from the size of its foot-prints, they were fully aware that it was a Grisly Bear, even before they saw it*. The skin and scull of this individual are now preserved in the Museum of the Edinburgh University, and a figure of it is given in the sixth number of the very excellent Illustrations of Zoology by Wilson. * MAcxkENZIE mentions the foot-marks of a Grisly Bear as being nine inches long and proportionably wide. The foot-marks of the young one mentioned in the text were of equal dimensions. E 26 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. Pye DESCRIPTION. - A The Grisly Bear has been well compared by Mr. Say with the Norwegian variety of the Ursus Arctos, to which it has a great resemblance in its general appearance. Its fur is long, and mostly of a dark brown colour, with paler tips, that on the flanks being generally lighter coloured in the summer season, and there is frequently a considerable admixture of gray = hairs on the head. The whole muzzle is pale, without the dark central stripe which the _ Black Bear has. It is distinguished from the Brown and Black Bears, by shorter and more hs conical ears, placed further apart, and white, arched, and very long claws, compressed like the : ", incisors of a squirrel, carrying their breadth on their upper surface, nearly to the tips, but chamfered away as it were beneath. They project far beyond the hair of the foot, and cut like a chisel when the animal strikes a blow with them. The forehead is broad, flattish, and continued nearly in a line with the nose, but there is in the older animals a distinct projection of the superciliary ridges of the frontal bone. The soles of its feet are longer and its heel is broader than those of the Brown Bear of Europe. Its tail is very small, so as to be hidden by the hair of the buttocks, and it is a standing joke among the Indian hunters, when they have killed a Grisly Bear, to desire any one unacquainted with the animal to take hold of its tail. The tail of the Black Bear is conspicuous enough, and that of the Barren-ground Bear 5 is still longer *. The strength and ferocity of the Grisly Bear are so great that the Indian hunters use much precaution in attacking them. They are reported to attain a weight exceeding eight hundred pounds, and Lewis and Clark mention one that measured nine feet from the nose to the tail, and say that they had’ seen a still larger one, but do not give its dimensions. This is far above the usual size of other Land Bears, and equals the larger specimens of the Polar Bear. Governor Clinton received an account of one fourteen feet long, from an Indian Trader, but even admitting that there was no inaccuracy in the measurement, it is probable that it was taken from the skin after it was removed from the body, when it is known to be capable of stretching several feet. The strength of this Bear may be estimated from its having been known to drag toa considerable distance the carcass of a * “ Two men visited. the Indian village (on one of the upper branches of the Columbia) where they purchased a dressed bear skin, of an uniform pale reddish-brown colour, which the Indians called yackah, in contradistinction to hohhost, or the White Bear. This remark induced us to inquire more particularly into their opinions as to the several species of hears, and we therefore produced all the skins of that animal which we had killed at this place, and also one very nearly white, which we had purchased. The natives immediately classed the white, the deep and the pale grizzly- red, the grizzly dark-brown, in short, all those with the extremities of the hair of a white or frosty colour, without - regard to the colour of the ground of the fur, under the name of hohhost. They assured us that they were all of the ~ same species with the White Bear ; that they associated together, had longer nails than the others, and never climbed trees. On the other hand, the b/ack skins, those which were b/ack with a number of entire white hairs intermixed, or with a white breast, the uniform bay, the brown, and light reddish-brown, were ranged under the class yackah, and were said to resemble each other in being smaller, and having shorter nails than the White Bear, in climbing trees, and being so little vicious, that they could be pursued with safety.”—Lewis anp Cxark, vol. iii. p. 215. a aan 7. | | | | | RUN ih) hone i i By l Hy) ay yi ee CSS WSs SS — SS it SSS SSS SSS SS WS SRS SSS Ss SSS SSS SSS SSS SS SS SRR NS SSS SSS SS SSS SSS SSS S SSS SSS SSE SSS SS SSS SSS = SoS SS SSS SSS at SSS PIO SLBB{ ALY T ey. 0g pesoddus | Il er y. i 4. eA i, woke ¥ CaP MAMMALIA. QT Baffalo, weighing about one thousand pounds. The following story is well authen- ticated. A party of voyagers, who had been employed all day in tracking a eanoe up the Saskatchewan, had seated themselves in the twilight by a fire, and were busy in preparing their supper, when a large Grisly Bear sprung over their 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 Metif, named Bourasso, who, grasping his gun, followed the Bear as it was retreating leisurely with its prey. He 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, which instantly dropped its prey to pursue Bourasso. He escaped with difficulty, and the Bear 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 by the Bear, 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 know- ledge of the parties. I have been told that there is a man now living in the neighbourhood of Kdmonton-house, who was attacked by a Grisly Bear, which sprung out of a thicket, and with one stroke of its paw completely scalped him, laying bare the scull, 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 that 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, he 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. He 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 dis- covered them from a distance, he generally frightened them away by beating on a large tin box, in which he carried his specimens of plants. He never saw more than four together, and two of these he supposes to have been cubs; he E2 28 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. more often met them singly or in pairs. He was only once attacked, and then by a female, for the purpose of allowing her cubs time to escape. His gun on this oceasion missed fire, but he 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 1826, he 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. He ascended a tree, and as the female drew near, fired at and mortally wounded her. She uttered a few loud screams, which threw the male into a furious rage, and he 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 the 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. Two instances are related by Lewis and Clark, and I have heard of several others, where a hunter having sought shelter in a tree from the pursuit of a Grisly Bear, has been held a close prisoner for many hours, by the infuriated animal keeping watch below. The Black and Brown or even the Polar Bear ascend trees with facility. Some interesting anecdotes of contests with this Bear, selected from the narratives of Lewis and Clark, Major Long, and others, are related in Godman’s Natural History, to which the reader is referred. The Grisly Bears are carnivorous, but occasionally eat vegetables, and are ob- served to be particularly fond of the roots of some species of psoralea and hedysarum. They also eat the fruits of various shrubs, such as the bird-cherry, choke-cherry, and hippophde Canadensis. The berries of the latter produce a powerful cathartic effect upon them. Few of the natives, even of the tribes, who are fond of the flesh of the Black Bear, will eat of the Grisly Bear, unless when pressed by hunger. Say and Gass mention a method which the Shoshonee or Snake Indians have of baking Bear’s flesh in a pit filled with alternate layers of brush-wood and meat, and covered with earth *, which is nearly similar to the way in which the natives of the South-sea Islands prepare their dogs and hogs. The Grisly Bear inhabits the Rocky Mountains and the plains lying to the east- ward of them, as far as latitude 61°, and perhaps still farther north. Its southern range, according to Lieutenant Pike, extends to Mexico. ‘There is a Brown * Gass’s Journal, &c., p. 311. MAMMALIA. 29 Bear on the Andes of Peru, but whether it is of this species or not is not known *. Lewis and Clark could not ascertain that the Grisly Bear at all inhabited the country between the western declivity of the Rocky Monntains and the sea-coast, and remark that those which they saw about the great falls of the Columbia were more variegated in colour, and of a milder disposition than those near the sources of the Missouri, but certainly of the same species. Mr. Drummond observes that the Grisly Bears are most numerous in the woody country skirting the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, particularly in districts which are interspersed with open prairies and grassy hills. They vary, he says, much in colour, from a very light gray to a dark chestnut. The latter variety is common about the sources of the Peace River, and, according to the Indians, is more ferocious than the gray one. The Black Bear, which inhabits the same districts, and frequently varies there to a cream-colour, never associates with the Grisly Bear. The young Grisly Bears and gravid females hibernate, but the older males often come abroad in the winter in quest of food. Mackenzie mentions the den or winter retreat of a Grisly Bear, which was ten feet wide, five feet high, and six feet long. These dens are named watee by the Indians. As this Bear comes abroad before the snow disappears, its foot-marks are frequently seen in the spring, and when there is a crust on the snow, the weight of the animal often causes it to crack and sink for a yard or more round the spot trod upon. ‘These impressions, somewhat obscured by a partial thaw, have been considered by the inexperienced as the vestiges of an enormously large quadruped, and the natives, although perfectly aware of the cause of the marks, are prone by their observations to heighten the wonder they perceive to be excited by them. Many reports of the existence of live Mammoths in the Rocky Mountain range, have, I doubt not, originated in this manner, Necklaces of the claws of a Grisly Bear are highly prized by the Indian warriors as proofs of their prowess. * ConDAMINE’s Travels, p. 82. Utioa’s Voyage, 461 (quoted from Arctic Zoology, p. clxx.) 30 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. [10.] 4, Ursus Maritimus. (Lin.) Polar or Sea Bear. White Bear. ManrtTen’s Spitz. Trans., p. 107, t. O, fig.c. An. 1675. Ursus Maritimus. Lin. Syst. Ursus Albus. Brisson, Réegne Animal, p- 260, sp. 2. An. 1756. L’ours Blanc. Burron, vol. xv. p. 128. An. 1767. Ursus Marinus. Pauwas’s I2. vol. iii. p. 691, e¢ SP1IcEL. Zool. xiv. t.1. An. 1780. Polar Bear. PENNaNT’s Arctic Zoology, p. 53, and Introd. pp. Ixxxix and cxciii. An. 1784. Ursus Albus. Ross's Voy., App. p. xliv. with a plate of the head, p. 199. An, 1820. Ursus Maritimus. Parry’s First Voy., Supp. p. clxxxiii. FRranxiin’s First Journey, p. 648. Parnry’s Second Voy., App. p. 288. Bear, Lyown’s Private Journal, pp. 13 and 377. An. 1824, Wawpusk (pl. Wawpuskwuck). CrreE INDIANS. Nannook. EsQuimaux. Nennook, GREENLANDERS. Buffon had many doubts as to the Sea or Polar Bear being a distinct species from the Land Bear, of which there are white varieties in the northern countries. He acknowledges, however, that the distinctive characters which Marten, one of its earliest describers, has pointed out, would, if correct, establish it as a peculiar species. A further acquaintance with the animal has fully confirmed Marten’s observations. DESCRIPTION. The Polar Bear is distinguished from the other species by its narrow head and muzzle pro- longed on a straight line with the flattened forehead; its short ears; long neck; the greater length of its body in proportion to its height; the soles of the hind-feet equalling one-sixth of the length of its body ; and, lastly, the quality of its fur, which is very thick and long on the body, still more so on the limbs, and everywhere of a yellowish-white colour, The naked extremity of the snout, the tongue, margins of the eyelids, and claws, are black; the lips purplish- black ; the eyes dark brown, and the interior of the mouth pale violet. I have met with no account of any Polar Bear, killed of late years, which exceeded nine feet in length, or four feet and a half in height. It is possible that larger individuals may be occasionally found; but the greatness of the dimensions attributed to them by the older voyagers has, I doubt not, originated in the skin having been measured after being much stretched in the process of flaying. Marten, who seems to have been a correct observer, expressly states that . the Polar Bear is of the same size with the German Bears. The great power of the Polar Bear is portrayed in the segcn of a disastrous accident which befel the crew of Barentz’s vessel on his second voyage to Waigats Straits. ‘‘On the 6th of September, 1594, some sailors landed to search for a MAMMALIA, 31 certain sort of stone, a species of diamond. During this search, two of the seamen lay down to sleep by one another, anda White Bear, very lean, approach- ing softly, seized one of them by the nape of the neck. The poor man, not knowing what it was, cried out, ‘Who has seized me thus behind?’ on which his companion, raising his head, said, ‘ Holloa, mate, it is a Bear,’ and immediately ran away. The Bear having dreadfully mangled the unfortunate man’s head, sucked the blood. The rest of the persons who were on shore, to the number of twenty, immediately ran with their matchlocks and pikes, and found the Bear devouring the body, which, on seeing them, ran upon them, and carrying another man away, tore him to pieces. This second misadventure so terrified them, that they all fled. They advanced again, however, with a reinforcement, and the two pilots having fired three times without hitting the animal, the purser approached a little nearer, and shot the Bear in the head, close by the eye. This did not cause him to quit his prey, for, holding the body, which he was devouring always by the neck, he carried it away as yet quite entire. Nevertheless, they then perceived that he began himself to totter, and the purser and a Scotchman going towards him, they gave him several sabre wounds, and cut him to pieces, without his abandoning his prey *.” In Barentz’s third voyage, a story is told of two Bears coming to the carcass of a third one that had been shot, when one of them, taking it by the throat, carried it to a considerable distance, over the most rugged ice, where they both began to eat it. They were scared from their repast by the report of a musket, and a party of seamen going to the place, found that, in the little time they were about it, they had already devoured half the carcase, which was of such a size that four men had great difficulty in lifting the remainder{. In a manuscript account of Hudson’s Bay, written about the year 1786, by Mr. Andrew Graham, one of Pennant’s ablest correspondents, and preserved at the Hudson’s Bay House, an anecdote of a different description occurs. “One of the Company’s servants who was tenting abroad to procure rabbits (Lepus Americanus), having occasion to come to the factory for a few necessaries, on his return to the tent passed through a narrow thicket of willows, and found himself close toa White Bear lying asleep. As he had nothing wherewith to defend himself, he took the bag off his shoulder and held it before his breast, between the Bear and him. ‘The animal arose on seeing the man, stretched himself and rubbed his nose, and having satisfied his curiosity by smelling at the bag, which contained a loaf of bread and a rundlet of strong beer, * CHURCHILL’s Coll. of Voy., vol.i. p. 88. + Ibid., vol. i, p. 115. 32 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. walked. quietly away, thereby relieving the man from his very disagreeable situation,” The Polar Bears feed chiefly on animal substances, and as they swim and diye well, they hunt seals and other marine animals with great success. They are even said to wage war, though rather unequally, with the Walrus. They feed likewise on land animals, birds, and eggs, nor do they disdain to prey on carrion, or, in the absence of other food, to seek the shore in quest of berries and roots, They scent their prey from a great distance, and are often attracted to the whale vessels by the smell of burning ‘reng, or the refuse of the whale blubber. Captain Lyons thus describes the mode in which the Polar Bear surprises a seal. ‘* The Bear, on seeing his intended prey, gets quietly into the water, and swims to leeward of him, from whence, by frequent short dives, he silently makes his approaches, and so arranges his distance, that, at the last dive, he comes to the spot where the seal is lying. Ifthe poor animal attempts to escape by rolling into the water, he falls into the Bear's clutches; if, on the contrary, he lies still, his destroyer makes a powerful spring, kills him on the ice, and devours him at leisure.” The same writer describes the pace of the Polar Bear, at full speed, as “a kind of shuffle, as quick as the sharp gallop of a horse.” The principal residence of the Polar Bear is on fields of ice, with which he frequently drives to a great distance from the land. In this way they are often carried from the coast of Greenland to Iceland, where they commit such ravages on the flocks, that the inhabitants rise in a body to destroy them. Captain Sabine mentions that he saw one about mid-way between the north and south shores of Barrow’s Straits, which are forty miles apart, although there was no ice in sight to which he could resort to rest himself upon ; and Captain Lyons informs us, that the Polar Bears not only swim with rapidity, but are capable of making long springs in the water. They are not known to travel far inland. They have been found in higher latitudes than any other quadruped, having been seen by Captain Parry in his most adventurous boat-voyage beyond 82 degrees of north latitude, The limit of their incursions southward on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, and of Labrador, may be stated to be about the 55th parallel. They are often seen about York Factory in the autumn, having most probably drifted from the north- ward on the ice during the summer. Pennant, who has collected, from good authorities, much information relative to their range, states, that they are frequent on all the Asiatic coasts of the Frozen Ocean, from the mouth of the Obi east- ward, and abound in Nova Zembla, Cherry Island, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Labrador, and the coasts of Baffin’s and Hudson’s Bays. They were seen by MAMMALIA. 33 Captain Parry within Barrow’s Straits as far as Melville Island ; and the Esquimaux, to the westward of Mackenzie’s river, told Captain Franklin that they occasionally, though very rarely, visited that coast. The exact limit of their range to the westward is uncertain, but they are said not to be known on the islands in Behring’s Straits, nor on the coast of Siberia to the eastward of Tchutskoinoss. They are not mentioned by Langsdorff and other visiters of the north-west coast of America; nor did Captain Beechey meet with any in his late voyage to Icy Cape. None were seen on the coast between the Mackenzie and Copper Mine River; and Pennant informs us, that they are unknown along the shores of the White Sea, which is an inlet of a similar character. The Polar Bear being able to procure its food in the depth of even an Arctic winter, there is not the same necessity for its hibernating that exists in the case of the Black Bear, which feeds chiefly on vegetable matters ; and it is probable, that, although they may all retire occasionally to caverns in the snow, the pregnant females alone seclude themselves for the entire winter. It is mentioned in Le Roy’s narrative of the residence of four Russian seamen for six winters in Spitzbergen, and also in the account of Barentz’s winter in Nova Zembla, that the Bears disappeared with the sun, and returned again with that luminary, after an absence in the one case of four months, and in the other of three. Their retire- ment has been considered by some as a proof of their hibernation ; but, I think, the most probable explanation of it is that they went out to sea in search of food. Polar Bears were seen in the course of the two winters that Captain Parry remained on the coast of Melville Peninsula; and the Esquimaux of that quarter derive a considerable portion of their subsistence not only from the flesh of the female Bears, which they dig together with their cubs from under the snow, but also from the males that they kill when roaming at large at all periods of the winter. Hearne states with more precision, and, I believe, from actual observa- tion, that the males leave the land in the winter time and go out on the ice to the edge of the open water in search of seals, whilst the females burrow in deep snow- drifts from the end of December to the end of March, remaining without food, and bringing forth their young during that period; that when they leave their dens in March, their young, which are generally two in number, are not larger than rabbits, and make a foot-mark in the snow no bigger than a crown piece. He also informs us that the males are found in company with the females in August, and then exhibit great attachment to them. Mr. Andrew Graham’s observations, written before the publication of Hearne’s Narrative, confirm the account given by that traveller. “In winter,” says he, “the White Bear sleeps like other species of F 34 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. the genus, but takes up its residence in a different situation, generally under the declivities of rocks, or at the foot of a bank, where the snow drifts over it to a great depth; a small hole, for the admission of fresh air, is constantly observed in the dome of its den. This, however, has regard solely to the she-Bear, which retires to her winter-quarters in November, where she lives without food, brings forth two young about Christmas, and leaves the den in the month of March, when the cubs are as large as a shepherd’s dog. If perchance her offspring are tired, they ascend the back of the dam, where they ride secure either in water or ashore. Though they sometimes go nearly thirty miles from the sea in winter, they always come down to the shores in the spring with their cubs, where they subsist on seals and sea-weed. The he-Bear wanders about the marshes and adjacent parts until November, and then goes out to the sea upon the ice, and preys upon seals. They are very fat, and though very inoffensive if not meddled with, they are very: fierce when provoked *.”’ | Captain Lyons records the Esquimaux account of the hibernation of the Polar Bear in the following words: “ From Ooyarrakhioo, a most intelligent man, I ob- tained an account of the Bear, which is too interesting to be passed over in silence. ‘At the commencement of winter, the pregnant Bears are very fat, and always solitary. When a heavy fall of snow sets in, the animal seeks some hollow place in which she can lie down, and remains quiet, while the snow covers her. Some- times she will wait until a quantity of snow has fallen, and then digs herself a cave: at all events, it seems necessary that she should be covered by and lie amongst the snow. She now goes to sleep, and does not wake until the spring sun is pretty high, when she brings forth two cubs. ‘The cave, by this time, has become much larger, by the effect of the animal’s warmth and breath, so that the cubs have room enough to move, and they acquire considerable strength by con- tinually sucking. The dam at length becomes so thin and weak, that it is with great difficulty she extricates herself, when the sun is powerful enough to throw a strong glare through the snow which roofs the den.’ The Esquimaux affirm that during this long confinement the Bear has no evacuations, and is herself the means of preventing them by stopping all the natural passages with moss, grass, or earth. The natives find and kill the Bears during their confinement by means of dogs, which scent them through the snow, and begin scratching and howling very eagerly. As it would be unsafe to make a large opening, a long trench is cut of sufficient width to enable a man to look down, and see where the Bear’s head lies, * Grauam, MSS. p. 20. MAMMALIA. 35 and he then selects a mortal part into which he thrusts his spear. The old one being killed, the hole is broken open, and the young cubs may be taken out by the hand, as, having tasted no blood and never having been at liberty, they are then very harmless and quiet. Females which are not pregnant roam throughout the whole winter in the same manner as the males. The coupling time is May.’ The flesh of the Polar Bear is, as stated by Captain Phipps (Lord Mulgrave), exceedingly coarse. The Russian sailors who wintered in Spitzbergen, found it, on the other hand, much more agreeable to the taste than the flesh of the rein- deer. I quote this fact here, not to show that there was any thing peculiarly gross in the taste of the Russians, but to have an opportunity of remarking, that when people have fed for a long time solely upon lean animal food, the desire for fat meat becomes so insatiable, that they can consume a large quantity of un- mixed, and even oily fat, without nausea. Our seamen relish the paws of the Bear, and the Esquimaux prefer its flesh at all times to that of the seal. Instances are recorded of the liver of the Polar Bear having poisoned people. The reader who is desirous of fuller accounts of the manners and habits of this very curious animal will be gratified by turning to Marten’s Spitzbergen, Fabricius’ Fauna Groenlandica, Pennant’s Arctic Zoology, and Scoresby’s Account of the Arctic Regions. I subjoin some well-authenticated measurements of Polar Bears. Captain Phipps. Captain Ross. Captain Lyon. Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length from nose to tail 5 5 a 1 7 10 8 ves 3 the shoulder-blade 2 3 2) 0 0 0 Height at the shoulder 4 4 3 4 1 4 9 Girth near the fore-legs 7 0 6 0 7 ll >> Of the neck 2 1 3 2 3 41 Breadth of the fore-paw 0 7 * 0 10 0 10 J hind-paw 0 0 0 8 0 0 Length from nostrils to hind head 0 0 1 6 ] 6 > Of fore-claws 0 0 0 23 0 24 ~£ of hind-claws 0 0 0 1¢ 0 1k = of tail 0 0 0 4 0 5 Weight ; : . ° 610 lbs. 3 1160 lbs. - 1600 Ibs *. * Captain Lyon states that his specimen was unusually large. > 1) NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. [11.] 1. Procyon Loror. (Cuvier.) The Raccoon. GENUvs Procyon, Storr. CuviER. Ursus lotor, Lin. GMELIN. vol. i. p. 103. Le Raton. Burron, vol. viii. pp. 337, t. xliii. Raccoon Bear. PENNANT’s Arct. Zool., vol.i. p. 69. ; Procyon lotor. CuviER’s Régne An., vol. i. p.143. SaBINE, Frankl. Jour., p. 649. HarLan. Faun., p, 53. The Raccoon, Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol, i. p. 163, This animal inhabits the southern parts of the fur districts, being found as far north as Red River, in latitude 50°, from which quarter about one hundred skins are procured annually by the Hudson’s Bay Company. If there is no mistake as to the identity of the species, the Raccoon extends farther north on the shores of the Pacific than it does on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. Dixon and Portlock obtained cloaks of Raccoon skins from the natives of Cook’s River, in latitude 60°, and skins, supposed to be of the Raccoon, were also seen at Nootka Sound by Captain Cook. Lewis and Clarke expressly: state that the Raccoon, at the mouth of the Columbia, is the same with the animal so common in the United States. Desmarest says that the Raccoon extends as far south as Paraguay. It is an animal, with a fox-like countenance, but with much of the gait of a Bear, and being partially plantigrade, it was classed by Linneus in the genus Ursus, In the wild state, it sleeps by day, comes from its retreat in the evening, and prowls in the night in search of roots, fruits, green corn, birds and insects. It is said to eat merely the brain, or suck the blood of such birds as it kills. At low water it frequents the sea-shore to feed on crabs and oysters. It is fond of dipping its food into water before it eats, which occasioned Linneeus to give it the specific name of lotor. It climbs trees with facility. The fur of the Raccoon is used in the manufacture of hats, and its flesh, when it has been fed on vegetables, is reported to be good. The live animal is often seen in English menageries. DESCRIPTION. The Raccoon has a round head, with a narrow, tapering nose, which projects considerably beyond the mouth. The end of the nose is naked and black, and it possesses much flexibility. The lips are also black. The eyes are round and moderately large; the pupils circular, The low, erect ears are elliptical, with their tips much rounded, and, together with their edges, are of a soiled white colour. The whiskers are strong. The muzzle is covered with short hairs, of a \ LABRADORIA, WW WN {Wor WS NUIGSAS Nw AWS Ds S MELES- 4 iq A otis ~ SSS SE COS SRA Aa MAMMALIA. 37 soiled white colour. This pale colour passes in the form of a band round the cheek and over the eyes, A dark mark includes the eye and cheek, on each side, and there is also a mark of a similar colour between the eyes, continued from the forehead. ‘The dark colour is produced by a mixture of grey, dark-brown and black hairs. The back is grizzled, its fur consisting of dirty white hairs, ringed with black. The belly is considerably paler. The tail is bushy, like the brush of a fox, and has adirty white colour, with about six dark rings round it. The extremities are short, and all the feet have five toes, armed with long, strong claws, fitted for burrowing. There is a fulness of the skin on the flanks, which adds to the apparent shortness of the limbs. The animal walks on the hind and fore toes, but when it sits, brings the whole hind sole to the ground, and it often assumes an erect posture like a Bear. Carver quaintly describes the Raccoon as having the limbs of a beaver, the body of a badger, the head of a fox, the nose of a dog, the tail of a cat, and sharp claws, by which it climbs trees like a monkey. DIMENSIONS. Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches, Length of head and body . 5 2 0 Length of tail (vertebre) 0 : 0 : oa head ‘ ° : : 0 6 Height of the back . 4 : “ 1 1 [12.] 1. Meres Lasraporia. (Sabine.) American Badger. Genus. Meles. Brisson. Carcajou. Burron, tom. vi. p. 117, pl. 23. (édit. de Paris en 36 vol. 1749-1789.) Quadrupédes enlum. 295. Common Badger. PENNaNT’S Arctic Zoology, vol.i. p. 71. Badger var. 6. American. PENNANT’s Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 15. Ursus Labradoricus. Lin. GmMELtn, vol. i. p. 102. Prarow. Gass’s Journal, p.34, Blaireau. Lewis anp CLarKkeE’s Voyage, &c. vol. i. pp. 50, 137, 213. Taxus Labradoricus. Say, Long’s Exped., vol. i. p. 261. Meles Labradoria. SaBine, Franklin’s First Journ, p. 649. Harian’s Fauna, p. 57. American Badger. GopMman’s Nat. Hist., vol.i. p. 179. Blaireau d’Amérique. F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. des Mamm. cum figura. Brairo et Siffeur. Frencu Canapians. Naunaspache-neeskeshew. Mistonusk, (also awawteek@oo, ‘* the animal that digs.”) CreE Inprans. Chocartoosh, PAWNEEs. Puate 2. Buffon, in the body of his great work, doubts whether the Badger be an inhabitant of the American continent, notwithstanding that M. Brisson had 38 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. described a small quadruped from New York, under the name of Meles alba*. Brisson’s animal, according to M. Desmarest, proved to be merely an albino variety of the Raccoon {; but Buffon afterwards, in the first addition to his article on the Glutton, described the skin of a true Badger, which he received, it is said, from Labrador, under the misapplied name of Carcajout. His specimen was imperfect, having only four toes the fifth having been rubbed off, as he supposes, in stuffing ; and Gmelin, who adopted the opinion of Schreber in considering it to be a distinct species from the European Badger, carelessly allowed “ palmis tetradactylis’” to form part of the specific character. Shaw pointed out the differences between the two species more perfectly, and his observations have been confirmed and extended by Mr. Sabine, who described a specimen, obtained on the plains of the Saskatchewan by Captain Franklin’s party. Kalm says that he saw the common Badger in Pennsylvania, where it is known by the name of the Ground Hog§. I suspect, however, that there is some mistake in his observation, because recent American naturalists do not mention it as an inhabitant of that state ; and the appellation of Ground Hog is applied by the country people to the marmots and several other animals that have the habit of burrowing in the earth ||. If there be, indeed, a true Badger on the Atlantic coast, it must differ in habits, and be perhaps a distinct species from the one described by Mr. Sabine, which inhabits a district of country very different in character. For the same reason, I have some doubts of Buffon’s specimen having come from Labrador §]. The Blaireaux, seen by Lewis and Clarke on the plains of the Missouri, are doubtless specifically the same with those of the ad- joining and similar Saskatchewan country; and even the Brairo, which the same travellers describe as an inhabitant of the open plains, and sometimes of the woods, of Columbia, presents no character, in their account of it, which denote it to be distinct from the Saskatchewan animal, except the curious and perhaps accidental circumstance of a double nail, like the Beaver’s, on one of the toes of each hind foot. The Meles Labradoria frequents the sandy plains or prairies which skirt the Rocky Mountains as far north as the banks of the Peace River, and sources of * Brisson, Regne An., p. 255. + DesmareEst’s Mamm., p. 168 and 174. t The name of Carcajou belongs properly to the Wolverene. § Kaxm’s Travels, vol. i. p. 189. || Gass, indeed, in noticing the Badgers of the Missouri, says that they are about the size of aground hog, and nearly of the same colour.—Gass’s Journal, p. 34. q Buffon says “ qu’il venoit du pays des Esquimaux,” but in fact it may have been brought actually from the banks of the Saskatchewan by some of the Canadian fur hunters. MAMMALIA. , 39: the River of the Mountains, in latitude 58°. It abounds on the plains watered by the Missouri, but its exact southern range has not, as far as I know, been defined by any traveller. The sandy prairies, in the neighbourhood of Carlton-house, on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and also on the Red River, that flows into Lake Winipeg, are perforated by innumerable Badger-holes, which are a great annoy- ance to horsemen, particularly when the ground is covered with snow. These holes are partly dug by the Badgers for habitations; but the greater number of them are merely enlargements of the burrows of the Arctomys Hoodi and Richardsonii, which the Badgers dig up and prey upon. Whilst the ground is covered with snow, the Badger rarely or never comes from its hole; and I suppose that in that climate it passes the winter from the beginning of November to April in a torpid state. Indeed, as it obtains the small animals on which it feeds by surprising them in their burrows, it has little chance of digging them out at a time when the ground is frozen into a solid rock. Like the Bears, the Badgers do not lose much flesh during their long hiberna- tion, for, on coming abroad in the spring, they are observed to be very fat. As they pair, however, at that season, they soon become lean. This Badger is a slow and timid animal, taking to the first earth it comes to when pursued ; and as it makes its way through the sandy soil with the rapidity of a mole, it soon places itself out of the reach of danger. The strength of its fore-feet and claws is so great, that one which had insinuated only its head and shoulders into a hole, resisted the utmost efforts of two stout young men who endeavoured to drag it out by the hind legs and tail, until one of them fired the contents of his fowling-piece into its body. Early in the spring, however, when they first begin to stir abroad, they may be easily caught by pouring water into their holes ; for the ground being frozen at that period, the water does not escape through the sand, but soon fills the hole, and its tenant is obliged to come out. The American Badger appears to be a more carnivorous animal than the European one. A female which I killed had a small marmot, nearly entire, together with some field-mice, in its stomach. It had also been eating some vegetable matters. DESCRIPTION Of a female American Badger, killed at Carlton-house, in the latter end of April. Its fur is very soft and fine, about three inches and a half long on the back, of a purplish- brown colour from the roots upwards, variegated with narrow black rings near its summits, and tipped with white, producing a pleasant and somewhat mottled or hoary gray colour, but 40. NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. exhibiting no brown tints when the fur lies smooth. The upper surface of the head is of a darker colour, bisected by a narrow white line, which runs from the nose to the nape of the. neck. This white stripe is bounded by dark fur, which gradually fades into gray and white as it approaches the ears. A grayish-brown patch includes the eye, and extends to the tip 0 the nose. There is also a brownish patch on the cheek before the ears, but the rest of the cheek, the under-jaw, and the throat are white. Its belly is thinly coated with coarser whitish hairs, its legs are of a blackish-brown colour, and its tail of a dirty brown. It is low on its legs, has a broad, fleshy body, a flattish head, and very short, round ears. Its claws are long, strong, and of a pale horn colour. The molar teeth are remarkably smooth and flat on the crowns for an omnivorous animal. It measures two feet six inches from the nose to the root of the tail, and the length of its tail is six inches. The European Badger differs totally from the American one, in its dark- coloured, much coarser, and shorter fur; in the well-defined white lines on the head, in its more conspicuous ears, which are black tipped with white, and in having a larger head. The differences betwixt these animals are detailed in the following quotation from Mr. Sabine :— ‘‘ The American Badger is generally less in size, and of a lighter make; the head, though equally long, is not so sharp towards the nose, and the markings on the fur are remarkably different ; a narrow white line runs from between the eyes towards the back, the rest of the upper part of the head is brown, the throat and whole under jaw are white, the cheeks partly so ; a semicircular brown spot is placed between the light part of the cheeks and the ears ; the white marking extends in a triangular form a little above the eyes, and below the eyes in a line towards the fore part of the mouth, but the whole eye lies within the dark colour of the upper part of the head, which colour runs in a sharp angle at the corner of the eye into the white. The European Badger has three broad white marks; one on the top of the head and one on each side, and between them are two broad black lines, which include the eyes and ears; and the whole under parts of the throat and jaw are black. The upper parts of the body and sides in the American animal are covered with rather long, fine, grayish hairs, which in the other are darker, coarser, and longer ; the under parts in the former are lighter than the upper, in the latter they are darker; the legs in the first are dark brown, in the other quite black; and though the animal is of larger size generally, its nails, which are dark, are smaller than the light horn-coloured nails of the American species ; and, finally, the tail of the European Badger is longer than that of the American,” The specimen of the American Badger which Mr. Sabine comments upon, was two feet two inches long, excluding the tail, which was three inches long. Buffon’s specimen was two feet four inches in length, exclusive of the tail. He remarks that it had one molar tooth of a side fewer than the European Badger, and he compares the colour of its fur to that of the Canada lynx. The specimen of Meles’ Labradoria, in the Zoological Museum, certainly very much resembles the lynx in MAMMALIA. Al the colours of the upper aspect of its body. The Tlacoyotl, seu Coyotlhunwli of Fernandez, seems to be very like the Meles Labradoria. <“‘ Inveni in agro -Tetzcocano animal pilosum valde, vocatum Tlalcoyotl, duas longum spithamas, unguibus melis, aut Quauhpecotli similibus, brevibus cruribus et nigro vestitis pilo, brevissima cauda, corpore toto ex albo vergente in fulvum, sed dorso, ac superna parte capitis, et colli nigris, lineaque distinctis candenti; caput est parvum, rostrum tenue, et longiusculum, canini exerti, ac vita victusque eadem quee Quauhpecotli, i. e. vorax est, nullisque parcit oblatis escis, nec tamen editur ejus caro*.”’ The Ytzcuintecuani, and the Quauhpecotli, or Meles montanus or Texon, of the same author, are probably of nearly allied genera. The latter has a long tail. [13.] 1. Guto Luscus. (Sabine.) The Wolverene. Genus. Gulo. Storr. CuviER. Carcajou. La Hontan, Voyage, vol. i. p. 81. An. 1703. Quickhatch or Wolverene. Extis’s Voy. Hudson’s Bay, p. 42, t.iv. An. 1748. Epwarps,¢. 103. Ursus luscus. Linn. Syst. p.71. Linn. GMELIN, vol. i. p.103. Ursus Freti Hudsonis. Brisson, Quadr., p. 188. An. 1756. Wolverene. PENNANT’S Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 8, 4.8. Arctic Zool., vol. i. p.66. HEARNE's Journey, p. 372. Wolverin, Quiquihatch, or Carcajou. GraHam’s MSS., p. 13. Gulo arcticus, var. A. Glouton wolverene. DEsmarEest, Mamm., p. 174. Gulo luscus. Sabine (Capt.) Suppl. Parry’s First Voy. clxxxiv. Sanine (Mr.) Franklin's First Journey, p. 650. RicHarpson’s Append., Parry’s Second Voy., p. 292. Kablee-arioo, Esqguimaux. Naghai-eh. CHEPEWYANS. Ommeethatsees, okeecoohagew, and okeecoohawgees. CrEE INDIANS. Carcajou. FRENCH CANADIANS. Quickehatch. ENeLisnH RESIDENTS AT Hupson’s Bay. The glutton of the northern parts of Europe, the rossomak of the Russians, has attracted the attention of naturalists from the many extravagant stories which have been told of its extraordinary voracity, and of its method of procuring relief when over-distended with food. Olaus Magnus, who, according to Buffon, is the earliest writer that mentions this animal, has collected the popular notions of its habits, though without giving full credit to them himself; and his account has * FRANCISCI FERNANDEZ (Phillipi Secundi Prim. Medico) Hist. Anim. Nove Hisp., cap. xxxvii. p. 12. G 42 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. been copied by subsequent authors, almost without alteration. “ The glutton,’ says he, “ (Latinice gulo) is the most noted of all the animals which inhabit the north of Sweden, for its insatiable appetite, whence it has obtained the appellation of jerf, in the language of that .country, of wi/fras, in German, and rosomaka, in Sclavonian.”” “ It is wont, when it has found the carcase of some large beast, to eat until its belly is distended like a drum, when it rids itself of its load by squeez- ing its body betwixt two trees growing near together, and again returning to its repast, soon requires to have recourse to the same means of relief*.” This trait in its character, however, is treated as a fiction by the traveller Gmelin, who, in journeying through Siberia, had an opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of its habits from the hunters. Buffon, on the authority of the reports of preceding authors, describes it as a ferocious animal, which approaches man without fear, and attacks the Jarger quadrupeds without hesitation ; but he states that its pace is so slow that it can take its prey only by surprise, to accomplish which it employs an extraordinary degree of cunning. He terms it the ‘* quadruped-vulture,’”’ and repeats the statement of Isbrand, that it is accustomed to ascend a tree and lie in wait for the elks and rein-deer, dropping on their backs as they pass, and adhering so firmly by its claws, that all their efforts to dislodge it are in vain, and they speedily fall a prey to its voracity. It is even said to entice the rein-deer to come beneath the tree in which it lies concealed, by throwing down the moss which that animal is fond of, and that the arctic fox is its jackal or provider}. This character seems to be entirely fictitious, and to have partly originated in the name of ‘‘elutton”? having been given occasionally to the lynxes and sloths. I have, however, thought proper to recapitulate it here, previous to stating that it is very dissimilar to the habits of the American Wolverene, which is by many able naturalists considered to be the same species. The Wolverene is first noticed by La Hontan, who says that it is very like a badger, but is larger and fiercer. He calls it the carcqouw, which is the appellation by which it is still known to the French Canadian voyagers. Subsequent writers, however, have occasionally, through mistake, given the same name to the American Badger, and also to several species of felis, whence doubts have been excited as to the animal actually meant by La Hontan. The European labourers in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company term it Quickehatch, which is evidently derived from its Cree or Algonquin name of ofee-coo-haw-gees, and * OLaus Maenvus, Gent. Septen., p. 138. + A similar account has been told of the foxes in Canada driving the moose deer to a spot-where the karkajou, described as having a long tail, is posted— Voyage d’ Amérique, vol, i. p.272. An, 1723. MAMMALIA. 43 without. being disposed to rely strongly on etymological inquiries, I am inclined to refer the Carcajou, or, as it is sometimes pronounced Carcayou, of the Coureurs des bois, to the same source (ohkee-coo-haw-gew). Many other Knisteneaux or Cree terms have been adopted into the vernacular language of the Canadian voyagers. The Wolverene is a carnivorous animal, which feeds chiefly upon the carcases of beasts that have been killed by accident. It has great strength, and annoys the natives by destroying their hoards of provision, and demolishing their marten traps. It is so suspicious, that it will rarely enter a trap itself, but begining behind, pulls it to pieces, scatters the logs of which it is built, and then carries off the bait. It feeds also on meadow mice, marmots, and other rodentia, and occasionally on disabled quadrupeds of a larger size. I have seen one chasing an American hare, which was at the same time harassed by a snowy owl. It resembles the bear in its gait, and is not fleet; but it is very industrious, and no doubt feeds well, as it is generally fat. It is much abroad in the winter, and the track of its journey in a single night may be often traced for many miles. From the shortness of its legs, it makes its way through loose snow with difficulty, but when it falls upon the beaten track of a marten trapper, it will pursue it for along way. Mr. Graham observes that ‘‘ the Wolverenes are extremely mis- chievous, and do more damage to the small-fur trade than all the other rapacious animals conjointly. They will follow the marten hunter's path round a line of traps extending forty, fifty, or sixty miles, and render the whole unserviceable, merely to come at the baits, which are generally the head ofa partridge ora bit of dried venison. ‘They are not fond of the martens themselves, but never fail of tearing them in pieces or of burying them in the snow by the side of the path, at a con- siderable distance from the trap. Drifts of snow often conceal the repositories thus made of the martens from the hunter, in which case they furnish a regale to the hungry fox, whose sagacious nostril guides him unerringly to the spot. Two or three foxes are often seen following the. Wolverene for this purpose *.” The Wolverene is said to be a great destroyer of beavers, but it must be only in the summer, when those industrious animals are at work on land, that it can surprise them. An attempt to break open their house in the winter, even sup- posing it possible for the claws of a Wolverene to penetrate the thick mud walls when frozen as hard as stone, would only have the effect of driving the beavers into the water to seek for shelter in their vaults on the borders of the dam. The * GraHam’s MSS., p. 13. G 2 44 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. ‘Wolverene, although it is reported to defend itself with boldness and success against the attack of other quadrupeds, flies from the face of man, and makes. but a poor fight with a hunter, who requires no other arms than a stick to kill it. It brings forth from two to four young once a year. The cubs are covered . with a downy fur, of a pale or cream colour. It is found throughout the whole northern parts of the American continent, from the coast of Labrador and Davis’ Straits to the shores of the Pacific and the islands of Alaska. It even visits the islands of the Polar sea, its bones having been found in Melville island, nearly in latitude 75°. It is not rare in Canada, but the extent of its range to the south-' ward is not mentioned by American writers. DESCRIPTION. This animal has a broad compact head, which is suddenly rounded off on every side to form the nose. In the shape of its jaws it resembles a dog. Its ears are low, rounded, and much hid by the surrounding fur. The back is arched; the tail low and bushy; the legs thick and short, and the whole aspect of the animal indicates strength, without much activity.. The fur bears a great similarity to that of the black bear, but is not so long, nor of so much value. It is in general of a dark brown colour, passing in the height of winter almost into black. A pale reddish-brown band, more or less distinct in different individuals, and sometimes fading into soiled brownish-white, commences behind the shoulder, and run- ning along the flanks, turns up on the hip and unites with its fellow on the rump. The short tail is thickly covered with long black hair. There are some white markings on the throat and between the fore-legs, which are not constant in size or number. The legs are brownish-black. This animal places its feet on the ground much in the manner of a bear, and imprints a track on the snow or sand, which is often mistaken for that of the bear by Europeans on their first arrival in the fur countries. The Indians distinguish the tracks at the first glance by the length of the steps. The claws are strong and sharp. DIMENSIONS. ee! Length of head and body X F 2 0 tail (vertebre) B . 4 0 7 SS tail with fur : 0 MAMMALIA. ADS [14.] 1. Musrezva (Purorrus) vurearis. (Lin.) The Common “piri i, in Weasel. | Genus. Mustela. Linn. Sub-genus. Putorius. Cuvier. Mustela vulgaris. Lin. GMELIN, 1, p. 99. Mustela nivalis. Lin. Fauna Suec., ii., p. 7. Common Weasel. .PENNANT, Arctic Zool. i., p. 75. Putorius vulgaris. Cuvier, Régne An. Mustela vulgaris. Harzan. Faun.,i., p. 61. No. 49. Musrum Zoot, SociEry. It is stated in Arctic Zoology, that this species inhabits the Hudson’s Bay coun- tries, Newfoundland, and the United States, as far south as Carolina, becoming in cold districts white in winter, like the Ermine. It is omitted in Godman’s account of the animals of the United States; and the Prince of Musignano is of opinion that what has been considered as the common weasel in the United States, is merely the ermine in its summer dress. Both species, however, are indubitably inhabitants of the American continent, the ermine extending to the most remote arctic districts, and the Weasel as far to the north, at least, as the Saskatchewan river. Captain Bayfield presented the Zoological Society with specimens of the Common Weasel, killed on the borders of Lake Superior, which agree in all respects with the European species, and I obtained similar specimens at Carlton House. ; | DESCRIPTION. The Weasel very much resembles the ermine ; but it is a much smaller animal, has a flatter’ forehead, a narrower and longer nose, and a much shorter tail. Its fur, short and of inferior quality, has, in summer, a dull yellowish-brown colour, deepening into chestnut brown on the upper part of the head and nose, and at the tip of the tail into blackish-brown. The under parts are yellowish-white, as are also the whole of the feet, and the interior of the legs and thighs. The entire of the under jaw is pure white, and the white extends half along the upper lip, terminating opposite the anterior part of the orbit, or at the posterior row of whiskers. The upper part of the cheek, between the white at the angle of the mouth, and the orbit, is included in the brown colour of the head. The tail is of the same colour above and- below. The brown and white colours join by a straight well-defined line on the sides of the neck and belly, the latter colour occupying nearly one-third less of the circumference of the body than the brown. The claws are smaller and more curved than those of the ermine, and the extremities are more slender, but longer in proportion to its size. 46 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. DIMENSIONS Of an old female killed at Carlton House. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines, Length of the head and body . 9 0 Height of the ear. . 0 2 a head . we I 8 From tip of the nose to the anterior point 33 tail (v i) : . 2 0 of the orbit ° * 0 6 os 5 including hair 2 10 The Weasels of the fur countries become white in winter like the Ermine, and are not distinguished from them by the traders. Rese 2. Mustera (Purorius) erminea. (Lin. Gmel.) The Ermine, or Stoat. Mustela erminea. Lin. GMELIN.,, i. p. 98. Stoat-weasel. PENNANT, Arciic Zool., i., p. 75. Mustela erminea. Parry’s First Voy., Suppl. clxxxv. Franx1in’s First Journey, p. 652. Parry’s Second Voy., App. p. 294. Liyon’s Private Journal, pp. 82—107. Seegoos and Shacooshew. Cree Inprans. Terreeya. EsquimMaux. This well-known and very handsome little animal is a common inhabitant of America, from its most northern limits to the middle districts of the United States ; and many specimens, both in the brown winter and white summer fur, were brought home by the late expeditions of discovery. It is a bold animal, and often domesticates itself in the habitations of the fur traders, where it may be heard the livelong night pursuing the white-footed mouse (AZus leucopus). Captain Lyon mentions his having seen an ermine hunt the footsteps of mice, like a hound after a fox, and he also describes their mode of burrowing in the snow. “TI now observed,” says he, “ a curious kind of burrow, made by the ermines, which was pushed up in the same manner as the tracks of moles through the earth in England. These passages run in a serpentine direction, and near the hole or dwelling-place the circles are multiplied, as if to render the approach more intricate.”’ The same lively writer relates the manners of a captive ermine as follows :—‘‘ He was a fierce little fellow, and the instant he obtained day-light in his new dwelling, he flew at the bars, and shook them with the greatest fury, ‘* MAMMALIA. Aq uttering a very shrill passionate cry, and emitting the strong musky smell which I formerly noticed. No threats or teasing could induce him to retire to the sleeping place, and whenever he did so of his own accord, the slightest rubbing on the bars was sufficient to bring him out to the attack of his tormentors. He soon took food from the hand, but not until he had first used every exertion to reach and bite the fingers which conveyed it. This boldness gave me great hopes of being able to keep my little captive alive through the winter, but he was killed by an accident.” According to Indian report, the ermine brings forth ten or twelve young at a time. In the time of Charlevoix, ermine-skins formed part of the menues pelletries exported from Canada; but their value at present is so little, that they do not repay the Hudson’s Bay Company the expense of collecting ; hence very few are brought to England from that quarter. DESCRIPTION. The ermine has a convex nose and forehead, a long slender body, and long cylindrical tail, with short and rather stout limbs. Its ears are low and rounded, and go more than half round the auditory opening. They are proportionably higher than the ears of the common weasel. In the winter time the fur in some specimens is of a pure white colour throughout, except on the end of the tail, which, together with a few of the anterior whiskers, are black. In other specimens there is a bright primrose-yellow tinge on the belly, the posterior part of the back, or the tail. The feet in the winter are clothed with hair on the soles, which projects so as to conceal the claws. In the summer the soles are nearly naked, and the fur on the upper parts resembles that of the common weasel in colour. DIMENSIONS Of a specimen killed at Fort Franklin, Great Bear Lake. ; _Inches. _ Lines, Inches. Lines. Length of headandbody . » . Ii 0 Length of head 5 : . 2 3 Sole tail (vertebra) - 4 0 Height of ear . : . oY ap) 3k = 5, including fur . 5 0 Distance between orbit and end of nose 0 6 In the neighbourhood of Carlton House there is a variety of a larger size, having a longer tail and longer fore-claws. DIMENSIONS, ‘ Inches. ‘Lines. Length of head and_body 4 é f 12 0 5 tail (vertebrae) . » : : 5 A 99 >> including fur * ¢ 6 6 48 ; NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. [16.] 3. Musrera (Purorivs) vison. (Lin. Gmel.) The Vison-W easel. Otay. Sacarp TuHEopat, Hist. du Can. p. 749. An. 1636. Foutereau. La Honran, Voyage, i. p. 81. An, 1703. Mink. Katm, Journ. Le vison. Byrron, xiii. p. 308, t. 43. Mustela vison. Lin. GMEL, i. p. 94. Minx. Lawson, Carol., p. 121. Mustela lutreola? Forsrer, Phil. Trans., lxii. p. 371. Minx Otter. PENNanT, Arctic Zool., i. p. 87. Vison-Weasel. Ixsip. i. p. 78. Jackash. HEARNE, Journey, p.376. Grauam, MSS., p. 6. Mustela vison. Cuvier, Régne An., i. p. 150, t. 1. fig. 2. Mustela lutreola. Sabine, Franklin’s Journ., p. 652. Mustela vison et M. lutreocephala. Hanrian, Fauna, pp. 63, 65. The Mink. Gopman, Wat. Hist. i. p. 206. Vison Weasel. Britiso Museum. Shakweshew or Atjackashew. CREE INDIANS. Mink. Hupson’s Bay TrapERrs. Foutereau. CANADIAN VOYAGERS. This animal is very similar to the mustela lutreola of the north of Europe, in form; and the name of menk, applied to the latter, is supposed by Pennant, with great probability, to have been transferred to the former by some Swedish colonists. La Hontan mentions a sort of small amphibious Weasels, under the name of Foutereaux, which is the appellation of the minks to this day amongst the French Canadian voyagers. « Buffon described a specimen from Canada, pre- served in the museum of M. Aubry, under the name of Vison, and gives a correct figure, except that the form of the tail of the specimen had been spoiled in mounting. Pennant admits the Vison into his list of species, having had merely an imperfect view of M. Aubry’s specimen through its glass-case, and not recog- nising it to be the same with his minx or lesser otter, which he considers as identical with the Mustela lutreola. Forster, who received a Vison from Hudson’s Bay, under the name of mink, expresses a doubt of its being the latter species ; and Baron Cuvier has placed the European mink in his sub-genus Putorius, whilst he ranges the Vison amongst the true martens. The Hudson’s Bay Vison has the teeth of the polecats. I have not been able to trace the origin of the term Vison ; but a list of the furs exported to France, presented by a Montreal merchant to Kalm in 1749, informs us, that ‘the visons, or foutereaux, are a kind of martins that live in the water.” There is no animal of the genus mustela inhabiting the MAMMALIA. 49 northern parts of America, which'can be said to live in the water but the Vison ; the fisher, notwithstanding its name, being as much a land animal as the pine- martin. The Vison passes much of its time in the water, and when pursued seeks shelter in that element in preference to endeavouring to escape by land, on which it travels slowly. It swims and dives well, and can remain a considerable time under water. Its short fur, forming a smooth glossy coat, its tail exactly like that of an otter, and the shortness of its legs, denote its aquatic habits. It preys upon small fish, fish-spawn, fresh-water mussels, &c., ia the summer ; but in the winter, when its watery haunts are frozen over, it will hunt mice on land, or travel to a considerable distance through the snow in search of a rapid or fall, where there is still some open water. Under the article Mustela Canadensis, the mistakes which have arisen from the habits of this ores having been attributed to the Pekan or Fisher, are pointed out. then irritated, exhales, next to the Skunk, the most fetid smell of any ani the fur-countries. The odour resides in a fluid secreted by two ¢ ands Ritieted at the-anns. . Hovis -not very timid when in the water, and will approach near to a canoe out of curiosity, diving however instantly on perceiving the flash of a gun, or any movement from whence it appre- hends danger*. It is easily tamed, and is capable of strong attachment. Ina domestic state it is observed to sleep much in the day, and to be fond of warmth. One, which I saw in the possession of a Canadian woman, passed the day in her pocket, looking out occasionally when its attention was roused by any unusual _noise. Like a cat, a tame Vison is easily offended, and will, on a sudden provo- cation, bite those who are most kind to it. It is fond of being caressed. The fur of the Vison is of little value, and at many of the remote parts their skins are taken by the traders from the Indians merely to accommodate the latter, but are afterwards burnt, as they will not repay the expense of carriage. The fur, however, is very fine, although short, and is likely, in the revolutions of fashion, to become valuable again. We saw the Vison on the banks of Mackenzie’s River as far north as latitude 66°, and there is every reason to believe that it ranges to the mouth of that river, in ee 69°. Itis a common animal throughout the whole breadth of the continent of America, and we are told by Pennant that it exists as far south as Carolina. It has from four to seven young at a time. * It resembles a musk-rat in its mode of swimming, and is shot in the water in like manner, by the hunters, as La Hontan has remarked. ‘ H a. * NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. DESCRIPTION. Dental formula, incisors &, canines =, grinders = = 34. The Vison has an anterior molar less in both jaws than the American pine-martin; but the teeth of the two species differ in shape merely in the antipenultimate or carnivorous tooth of the lower jaw having only a slightly salient angle, in place of the interior very minute point, which exists on the lower carnivorous tooth of the martin, Size.—Less than the pine-martin, but, from the greater length of its neck, it measures nearly as much from the nose to the tail. Shape.—The head is depressed and small; the nose short, flat, and thick; the eyes small, and far forward ; the ears low, nearly semicircular, and covered with short fur. The neck is long, and the body is long and slender, and has much flexibility. The legs are’ short, and the toes are connected by short hairy webs that are completely concealed by the fur, which is as long on the feet both above and below, as on the legs. The claws are nearly straight, sharp, and white, and scarcely project beyond the fur. The tail is round and thick at the root, from whence it tapers gradually to the tip, exactly resembling the tail of an otter in form. In the prepared specimens, the part of the tail next the body is usually too slender, whilst towards the tip it is over-stuffed, causing the hairs to stand out, and giving it a bushy appearance con- trary to nature, The fur is short on the head, and is longest on the posterior part of the body and tail. It is of two sorts—a very dense down, and longer and stronger hairs. The tips of the latter form a smooth shining coat both on the body and tail, which completely conceals the down. The colour of the down is intermediate betwixt brown and gray, being nearly that which Werner denominates brocoli-brown. The colour of the surface of the fur is chocolate or umber-brown ; a little paler on the head and belly, but deepening on the tail and posterior part of the back into blackish-brown. The lower jaw is white, with a narrow brown mark at the apex; and there are occasionally some white markings on the throat, but they are not - constant either in number or size. The whiskers are of the same colour with the fur, and are shorter than the head, but remarkably strong. There are two brown-coloured glands situated in the hollow between the tuberosities of the ischium and the tail, which have each a small cavity capable of containing a garden pea, and lined by a white, wrinkled membrane. The fluid they secrete is very fetid. w DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines, : Fathent Lines. Length of head and body - s 17 0 Distance from centre of orbit to end of nose 1 1) x tail, including fur , 8 6 on end of nose to auditory opening 2 oS 3 head! : eye” ’ 3 3 Breadth between the ears a he 2 0. MAMMALIA. - [17.] 4. Musrera Marres. (Linn.) The Pine-Martin. Genus. Mustela. Linn. Sub-genus. Mustela. Cuvier. Mustela martes. Linn. GMELIN, vol. i. p. 95. Pine-martin. PENNANT’s Arctic Zool., vol.i. p. 77. Mustela martes. Sasine, Franklin’s Journ. p.651. Haruan’s Fauna, p. 67. Pine-Martin. Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol.i. p. 200. Wawpeestan. CrerInprans. Wappanow. Mownzontes. Wawbeechins. Atconeuins. Sable. AmERICAN FUR-DEALERS. _ Martin. Hupson’s Bay Company’s Lists. The Pine-martin inhabits the woody districts in the northern parts of America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in great numbers, and has been observed to be particularly abundant where the trees have been killed by fire, but are still standing. It is very rare, as Hearne has remarked, in the district lying north of Churchill river, and east of Great Slave Lake, known by the name of Chepewyan or Barren Lands. A similar district, on the Asiatic side of Behring’s Straits, twenty-five degrees of longitude in breadth, and inhabited by the Tchutski, is described by Pennant as equally unfrequented by the Martin, and for the. same reason,—the want of trees. The limit of its northern range in America is like that of the woods, about the sixty-eighth degree of latitude, and it is said to be found as far south as New-England. Particular races of Martins, distinguished by the fineness and dark colours of their fur, appear to inhabit certain rocky districts. The rocky and mountainous but woody district of the Nipigon, on the north side * of Lake Superior, has long been noted for its black and valuable Martin-skins. The Martin preys on mice, hares, and partridges, and in summer, on small birds’ eggs, &c. A partridge’s head, with the feathers, is the best bait for the log traps in which this animal is taken. It does not reject carrion, and often destroys the hoards of meat and fish laid up by the natives, when they have accidentally left a crevice by which it can enter. The Martin, when its retreat is cut off, shows its teeth, sets up its hair, arches its back, and makes a hissing noise like a cat. It will seize a dog by the nose, and bite so hard, that unless the latter is accustomed to the combat, it suffers the little animal to escape. It may be easily tamed, and it soon acquires an attachment for its master, but it never becomes docile. Its flesh is occasionally eaten, though it is not prized by the Indians. The females are smaller than the males. They burrow in the ground, carry their young about six weeks, and bring forth from four to seven in a litter about the latter end of April. Mr. Graham says that this animal is sometimes troubled with epilepsy. H 2 52 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY, - The fur of the Martin is fine, and it is used for trimmings, and also dyed so as to imitate sables and other expensive furs. Hence it has always been an important article of commerce. Upwards of one hundred thousand skins have long been collected annually in the fur countries. DESCRIPTION. The form of the Martin is well known. It has a pleasing aspect. Its fur is about an inch and a quarter long, of a pale, dull, grayish-brown, or hair-brown colour, from the roots upwards, dull yellowish-brown near the summit, and tipped with dark brown or black. ‘The lustre of the surface of the fur is considerable. The hair of the tail is longer, coarser, and darker, than that of the body. At the tip of the tail its length is three inches, and it has a blackish colour, The yellowish-white markings on the throat vary in different individuals. The darkest skins are most prized. The fur is in the highest order in the winter time; in the beginning of summer, the dark tips of the hairs drop off, and the general colour of the fur is a pale orange-brown, with little lustre. The tips of the ears, at all times lighter than the rest of the fur, become very pale in the summer time. The natives remark that the fur of the Martin loses all its lustre, and consequently much of its value, upon the falling of the first shower of rain for the season. Length of the head and body from eighteen to twenty inches. [18.] 5. Musrera Canapensis. (Lin.) The Pekan, or Fisher. Le Pekan. Burron, vol. xiii. p. 304, t. xlii. Opt. Mustela Canadensis. Linn. GMELIN, vol. i. p. 95. Fisher. PENNaANT’s Arct. Zool., vol i. p. 82. Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 238. Mustela Pennanti. ERxLEBEIN, Syst., p. 470. Wejack. Hrarne’s Journ. Grauam’s MSS. Fisher or Black-fox. Lewrs and Crank, vol. iii. p. 25. Fisher-weasel, or Pekan. WanrbDENn’s United States. Mustela Pennanti. Sasine, Frankilin’s First Journ., p. 651. Mustela Canadensis. Harian’s Fauna, p. 65. Pennant’s Martin. Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol.i. p. 203. Otchek. CrerInp1ans. Woodshock. Hupson’s Bay Company’s SALE Lists. Wejack, or Fisher. Fur Traprers. Pekan. CanapIaAn VoYaAGERs. ' This animal has been described by authors under many appellations. A con- siderable number of its skins are annually imported into England by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and exposed in their sales under the names of Woodshocks or MAMMALIA, 53 Fishers. The latter appellation, whatever its origin may have been, has led to much confusion in the history of the species, and has caused the habits of the mustela vison to be ascribed to it. Mr. Bartram, as quoted by Pennant, is the first written authority I can find for the name, and he distinctly says, “‘ though they are not amphibious, and live on all kinds of lesser quadrupeds, they are called Fishers.” Wejack, the appellation under which Hearne mentions it, is a corruption of its Cree or Knisteneaux name, ofchesk, and the word Woodshock has a similar origin. It is universally termed Pekan by the Canadian fur-hunters, which may be considered as evidence of its being the animal described by Buffon. Pennant had only an imperfect view, through a glass case, of the Pekan, in a museum at Paris*, and does not appear to have recognised it in his fisher. Under the article Pekan, in Arctic Zoology, it is said that a skin of that species was sent from Hud- son’s Bay, by Mr. Graham, labelled with the name of Jackash. This name is given by the traders solely to the mustela vison, and I suspect that, through some accident, the label intended for a specimen of the latter animal had been affixed to a skin of the common Pine-martin. Hence the formation of a nominal species, by Pennant, and much of the confusion that has ensued. Large individuals of the common Pine-martin, in their summer dress, have a considerable resemblance to the Fisher, and might easily have been mistaken by Pennant for the animal he had imperfectly examined at Paris; and having once named it the Pekan, it followed that a true skin of the Fisher, also received from Mr. Graham, was described as a distinct species. Pennant actually says that his Pekan agrees in dimensions and white marks with the European martin. The Pekan is a larger and stronger animal than any variety of the Pine-martin, but it has similar manners ; climbing trees with facility, and preying principally on mice. It lives in the woods, preferring damp places in the vicinity of water, in which respect it differs from the martin, which is generally found in the driest spots of the pine forests. The Fisher is said to prey much on frogs in the summer season; but I have been informed that its favourite food is the Canada porcupine, which it kills by biting on the belly. It does not seek its food in the water, although, like the Pine-martin, it will feed on the hoards of frozen fish laid up by the residents. It inhabits a wide extent of country, from Pennsylvania to Great Slave Lake, being thirty degrees of latitude, and I believe its range extends completely across the continent. It is found on the shores of the Pacific. It brings forth, once a year, from two to four young. * Arctic Zoology, vol.i. p. 78. 54 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. DESCRIPTION. The physiognomy of the Pekan is very different from that of the Martin. When the latter is threatened, its features resemble those of an enraged cat, but the expression of the Pekan’s countenance approaches to that of a dog, although the apparent obliquity of its eyes give it a sinister look. The head has a strong, roundish, compact appearance, and contracts sud- denly to form the nose, which terminates rather acutely. The ears, low and semicircular, are far apart, so as to leave a broad and slightly rounded forehead: they are smaller in proportion than the ears of the Pine-martin. The eyes, situated where the head curves in to form the nose, appear more oblique than they really are. The fur, towards the roots, is fine and downy, and of a grayish or clove-brown colour; yellowish-white upwards, and blackish-brown at the tips, with considerable lustre. It is short on the head, but on the body, particularly on the posterior parts, it is as long, though less fine than the fur of the Pine-martin. On the head, shoulders, and fore-part. of the back, so much of the white is seen that they are quite hoary, but towards the tail the colour deepens into blackish-brown. The throat, belly, and legs are brownish-black ; the colour is lighter on the sides. There is a white spot very frequently between the fore-legs or on the throat, and another between the hind-legs, but these marks are not constant. The tail is clothed with Tong black fur, The chin and nose are tipped with brown. The ears, which are covered with short hairs, are pale anteriorly, dark brown behind, and have whitish margins. The fore-legs are short and strong. The toes on the fore and hind feet are connected at the base by a short web, which is covered on both sides with hair. The claws are sirong, curved and sharp. This animal is nearly twice the ordinary size of the Pine-martin, and has a longer tail ; and its fur is harsher, and much less valuable. Its body has the musky odour of the martin, but rather stronger. Some thousands of Pekans are annually killed in the Hudson’s Bay countries, but they are less abundant than the pine-martins. DIMENSIONS. Inches. Inches. Length of head and body 6 : . 23 j Breadth from the tip of one ear to the tip of theother 7 bs head measured with a string from the Height of ear 3 A . . - 1 nose over the forehead to the nape of the neck 63 Length of fore-leg and foot : - - 6 > tail, including fur : 9° Gia) 5 hind-leg, foot, and thigh F -ll @. Mustera Canapensis, varietas alba. White Pekan. This variety has the nose and feet brown; the rest of the fur is white. Its dimensions are the same with those of the common variety. There is a specimen in the Hudson’s Bay Museum. MAMMALIA. 55 [19.] 1, Mepurris Americana, var. Hudsonica. The Hudson's Bay Skunk. Genus. Mephitis. Cuvirr. Skunk Weesel. PENNaNT’s Arctic Zool., i. p. 85. HEARNE, Journey, p. 377. Mephitis Americana. SasinE. Franklin’s Journ. p. 653. Zootocicat Mus. No. 68, 69. Seecawk. CrEE INDIANS. This animal is prettily ornamented by a full bushy tail, and broad lateral white stripes, which contrast pleasingly with the white colours of the rest of the body. Its fur, although long, is coarse, and is but little valued in commerce. The Skunk is not an uncommon animal in the district it inhabits, which does not, I believe, extend to the north of latitude 56° or 57°. It exists in the rocky and woody parts of the country, but is still more frequent in the clumps of wood which skirt the sandy plains of the Saskatchewan. I have not been able to ascertain the southern range of this variety of Skunk; and, judging from Kalm’s description, there appears to be a different one in Canada. The Skunk passes its winter in a hole, seldom stirring abroad, and then only for a short distance. It preys on mice, and in summer has been observed to feed much on frogs. Ithas aslow gait, and can be overtaken without difficulty, for it makes but a poor attempt to escape, putting its trust apparently in its power of discomfiting its pursuers by the discharge of a noisome fluid. This fluid, which is of a deep yellow colour, and is contained in a small bag placed at the root of the tail, emits one of the most powerful stenches in nature; and so durable, that the spot where a Skunk has been killed will retain the taint for many days. Mr. Graham says, that he knew several Indians who lost their eye-sight in consequence of inflammation, produced by this fluid having been thrown into them by the animal, which has the power of ejecting it to the distance of upwards of four feet. I have known a dead Skunk, thrown over the stockades of a trading post, produce instant nausea in several women in a house with closed doors upwards of a hundred yards distant. 'The odour has some resemblance to that of garlic, although much more disagreeable. One may, however, soon become familiarised with it : for, notwithstanding the disgust it produces at first, I have managed to skin a couple of recent specimens by recurring to the task at intervals. When care is taken not to soil the carcase with any of the strong-smelling fluid, 56 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. the meat is considered by the natives to be excellent food. It breeds once a year, and has from six to ten young at a time. A considerable number of animals of the genus Mephitis, natives of America, resembling each other strongly in form and size, but differing in the number and variety of their stripes and markings, have been described by authors as so many distinct species. Baron Cuvier thinks that the present state of our knowledge of these animals does not warrant us in con- sidering them otherwise than as varieties of a single species, and of these varieties he enumerates fifteen*. I have now seen a considerable number of specimens, killed to the north of the Great Lakes, none of which presented any important deviation in their markings from the one principally referred to in the description which follows ; and M. Desmarest remarks, that “ the varieties (if they are to be considered as such, and not as species) are, for the most part, sufficiently uniform in the same district of country in the disposition of their stripes.” The Hudson Bay variety, however, comes nearest to the description of the Chinche of Buffon ; the Viverra Mephitis of Gmelin, which is said to be an inhabitant of Chili. The Fiskatta, or Skunk, of Kalm, which inhabits Canada, has a white dorsal line in addition to two lateral ones. DESCRIPTION. The Skunk is low on its legs, with a broad fleshy body, wide forehead, and the general aspect rather of a wolverene than of a martin ;—eyes small; ears, short and round, A nar- row white meesial line runs from the tip of the nose to the occiput, where it dilates into a broad white mark. It is again narrowed, and continues so until it passes the shoulders, when it forks, the branches running along the sides, and becoming much broader as they recede from each other. They approach posteriorly, and unite on the ramp, becoming at the same time narrower. In some few specimens the white stripes do not unite behind, but disappear on the flanks. The black dorsal space included by the stripes is egg-shaped, the narrow end of which is towards the shoulders. ‘The sides of the head and all the under parts are black. The hair on the body is long. The tail is covered with very long hair, and has generally two broad longitudinal white stripes above on a black ground. Sometimes the black and white colours of the tail are irregularly mixed. Its under surface is black. The claws on the fore- feet are very strong and long, being fitted for digging, and very unlike those of the martins. * Ossemens fossiles, + The earliest account of the Canada Skunk that I have met with, is by Sagard :—“ Les enfans du diable,” dit il, “6 que les Hurons appelle Scangaresse, et le commun de Montagnais, Babougi Manitou, ou Ouinesque, est une beste fort puante de la grandeur d’un chat ou d’une jeune renard, mais elle a la teste un peu moins aigué, et la peau converte d'un gros poil rude et enfumé, et sa grosse queué retroussée de mesme, elle se cache en hyver sous la neige, et ne sort point qu’au commencement de la lune du mois de Mars laquelle les Montagnais nomment Ouiniscon pismi, qui signifie la Lune dela Ouinesque. Cet animal, outre qu’il est de fort mauvaise odeur, est tres malicieux, et d’un laid regard.’’—~ F, G..SacarD THEODAT, Hist. du Canada, p. 748. MAMMALIA. 57 J20.] 12 Lurra Canapensis. (Sabine.) The Canada Otter. Genus. Lutra. Ray. Cuvier. Loutre de Canada. Burrow, vol. xiii. p. 326. t. 44. Common Otter. PENNANT, 4rct. Zool., vol.i. p. 86. Land Otter. WarpbEn, United States, vol. i. p. 206. Lutra Canadensis. SaBinE, Franklin’s Journ., p. 653. Lutra Brasiliensis. Haritan, Fauna, p. 72: The American Otter, Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol.i. p.222. Neekeek, CREE INDIaNs. Capucca. INHABITANTS OF Nootka. Buffon describes an Otter from Canada as differing from the European species merely in its greater size, and the colour of its fur, Ray had previously enume- rated the Saricovienne of La Plata, or the Carigueibeju (Sarigoviou) of Brasil, as a species of his genus /utra, distinct from Lutra vulgaris. Pennant, in his History of Quadrupeds, following Linnzeus and Brisson, refers the Brasilian Otter to the Sea Otter, of the following article; but, in his Arctic Zoology, he describes the Brasilian as a peculiar species confined to the warm parts of America; whilst he considers the Otter of the northern rivers as identified with the Common Otter of Europe. Baron Cuvier again unites the Canada and Brasil Otters under the name of Voutre d’ Amérique ; but the character ascribed by Margrave to the lutra Bra- stliensis, of its tail and feet being of the same length, will not by any means apply to the Canada Otter, and I have therefore followed Mr. Sabine, in considering the subject of this article to be a species peculiar to the northern districts of America. M. Frederick Cuvier not only separates the Otter of Canada from that of South America, but also describes a distinct species inhabiting an intermediate district (Lutra lataxina.)* The Canada Otter resembles the European species in its habits and food. In the winter season, it frequents rapids and falls, to have the advantage of open water ; and when its usual haunts are frozen over, it will travel to a great distance through the snow, in search of a rapid that has resisted the severity of the weather. If seen, and pursued by hunters on these journies, it will throw itself forward on its belly, and slide through the snow for several yards, leaving a deep furrow behind it. This movement is repeated with so much rapidity, that even a swift * Dict. des Sciences Nat., xxvii. I 58 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. runner on snow-shoes has much trouble in overtaking it. It also doubles on its track with much cunning, and dives under the snow to elude its pursuers. When closely pressed, it will turn and defend itself with great obstinacy. In the spring of 1826, at Great Bear Lake, the Otters frequently robbed our nets, which were set under the ice, at the distance of a few yards from a piece of open water. ‘They generally carried off the heads of the fish, and left the bodies sticking in the net. The Canada Otter has one litter annually about the middle of April, of from one to three young. It inhabits the Mackenzie and other rivers nearly to the Arctic sea; and there appears to be no difference betwixt the skins obtained on the shores of the Pacific, or in the neighbourhood of Hudson’s Bay. Seven or eight thousand are imported annually into England. DESCRIPTION. The Canada Otter may be distinguished from the European species, by the fur of its belly being of the same shining brown colour with that of the back. It is a much larger animal, and has, in proportion, a shorter tail than the European one. Its fur very much resembles that of the beaver, having the same general colours, and, like it, consisting of a very fine waved and shining down, intermixed with longer and coarser hairs. Hearne remarks, that the colour and quality of its fur varies much with the season. In summer, when the hair is very short, it is almost black; but, as the winter advances, it turns to a beautiful reddish-brown, except a spot under the chin, which is gray. Otter-fur is nearly of the same fineness with beaver-wool, but being shorter, and not so well adapted for making felt, its price fluctuates more with the fashion. The length of the Canada Otter is about five feet, including the tail, which measures eighteen inches, MAMMALIA. 59 [21] 2. Lurra (Ennypra) marina. (Erxlebein.) The Sea Otter. Genus. Imtra. Ray. Sub-genus. Enhydra. FLEMING. Sea-Beaver. KrascHENTNIKOFF, Hist. Kamsk. (G@RIEVE’s Trans.), p. 131. An. 1764. Lutra Marina. STELLER, Nov. Com. Petrop., vol..xi. p. 367, t. xvi. ERXLEBEIN, Syst. An. 1777. Sea-Otter. Coox’s Third Voy., vol. ii. p. 295. An. 1784. PENNANT’sS Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 88 An. 1784. Meares’ Voy., pp. 241-260. An. 1790. MenzrEs, Phil. Trans., p.385.. An. 1796. Enhydra Marina. Furmine’s Phil. Zool., vol. ii. p. 187. Am. 1822. Lutra Marina. Haran. Fawna, p. 73. The Sea Otter. Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 228. Kalan. KamskaTDALEs. The Sea Otter inhabits the northern parts of the Pacific, from Kamskatcha to the Yellow Sea on the Asiatic side, and from Alaska to California on the American coast. It seems to have more the manners of a seal than of the Land Otter. It frequents rocks washed by the sea, and brings forth on land, but resides mostly in the water, and is occasionally seen very remote from the shore, sometimes, according to Pennant, more than a hundred leagues. The fur of the Sea Otter being very handsome, was much esteemed by the Chinese, and, until the market at Canton was overstocked, prime skins brought extraordinary high prices. The trade for a considerable period was in the hands of the Russians, who soon after the discovery of the north-west coast of America, by Beering and Tschirikow, sent mercantile expeditions thither. Captain Cook’s third voyage drew the attention of English speculators to that quarter, and vessels were freighted both by private adventurers and by the India Company, for the purpose of collecting furs on the American coast and conveying them to Canton. Pennant, alluding to this traffic, says, “ what a profitable trade (with China) might not a colony carry on, were it possible to penetrate to that part of America by means of rivers and lakes.” The event that Pennant wished for soon took place. Sir Alexander Mackenzie having traversed the continent of America, and gained the coast of the Pacific, his partners in trade followed up his success, by establishing fur posts in New Caledonia, and a direct commerce with China; but the influx of furs into that market soon reduced their price. DESCRIPTION. [Extracted from Meares’ Voyage.] The Sea Otter is furnished with a formidable set of teeth; its fore-paws are like those of the River Otter, but of much larger size, and greater strength ; its hind-feet are skirted with a membrane, on which, as on the fore-feet, there grows a thick and coarse hair. The fur varies I2 60 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. in beauty according to the age of the animal. The young cubs, of a few months old, are covered with a long, coarse, white hair, which protects the fine down that lies beneath it. The natives often pluck off this coarse hair, when the lower fur appears like velvet, of a beautiful brown colour. As they increase in size, the long hair falls off, and the fur becomes blackish, but still remains short. When the animal is full grown, it becomes of a jet black, and increases in beauty; the fur then thickens, and is thinly sprinkled with white hairs. When they are past the age of perfection, and verge towards old age, their skin changes into a dark brown, dingy colour, and of course diminishes in value. The skins of those killed in the winter are of a more beautiful black, and in every respect more perfect than those which are taken in the summer and autumn. The male Otter is beyond all comparison more beautiful than the female, and is distinguished by the superior jetty colour, as well as velvety appearance of his skin ; whereas the head, throat and belly of the female, are not only covered with fur that is white, but which is also of a very coarse texture. The skins in the highest estimation are those which have the belly and throat plentifully interspersed with a kind of brilliant silver hairs, while the body is covered with a thick black fur, of extreme fineness, and a silky gloss*. [22.] 1. Canis Lupus, occwwentatis. The American Wolf. Grnus. Canis. Linn. Missouri Wolf. Lewis and Crank, vol. i. p. 283. Canis Lupus. Sapine, Franklin’s Journ., p. 654. SaBine (Carr.), Parry's Voy., Suppl. clxxxv. Ricuarpson, Parry’s Second Voy., App., p. 295. Wolf. Lyon’s Private Journal, pp. 151, 339, &c. The Common Wolves of the Old and New World have been generally supposed to be the same species—the Canis lupus of Linneus. The American naturalists have, indeed, described some of the northern kinds of Wolf as distinct ; but it never seems to have been doubted that a Wolf, possessing all the characters of the European Wolf, exists within the limits of the United States. * Not having been on the coasts where the Sea Otter is produced, I can add nothing to its history from my own observation, and I have preferred taking the description of the fur from one who was engaged in the trade, to extract- ing a scientific account of the animal from systematic works, which are in the hands of every naturalist. In the narrative of Captain Cook’s voyage, it is mentioned that a young Sea Otter brought on board had six lower incisors. Steller, and all succeeding systematic writers, describe it as having six incisors above and four below. Probably two of the lower ones drop out before the animal becomes adult. F “MAMMALIA, ~ 61 The Wolf to which these characters have been ascribed, seems to be the “large brown Wolf” of Lewis and Clark, and, according to them, inhabits not only the Atlantic countries, but also the borders of the Pacific and the mountains which approach the Columbia river, between the Great Falls and rapids, but is not found on the Missouri to the westward of the Platte. Ihave seen none of these Brown Wolves ; butif their resemblance is so close to the European Wolf as Major Smith* states it to be, I have no hesitation in saying that they differ decidedly from the Wolf which inhabits the countries north of Canada. While attached to the late expeditions, I passed through thirty degrees of latitude and upwards of fifty of longitude on the American continent, and in the course of seven years travelled upwards of twenty thousand miles, durmg the whole of which time I had almost daily opportunities of observing the form and manners of the Wolves, but 1 saw none which had the gaunt appearance, the comparatively long jaw and tapering nose, the high ears, long legs, slender loins, and narrow feet of the Pyrenean Wolf. In some of the districts which we traversed, the Wolves were very numerous, and varied greatly in the colour of their fur, some being white, others totally black, but the greater number were mixed gray and white, more or less tinged in parts with brown. ‘These variations of colour, however, not being attended with any differences of form, nor peculiarity of habits, I deem them to be no more _ characteristic of proper species or even permanent varieties than colour would be in the domestic dog. All the northern Wolves, whatever their colours are, have certain characters in common wherein they differ from the European race ; and the Indian report of the extreme variations of colour being occasionally observed in Wolves of the same litter, strengthens my opinions. DESCRIPTION. The American Wolf of the northern districts is covered with long and comparatively fine fur, mixed with a large quantity of shorter woolly hair, and it has 2 more robust form than the European Wolf. Its muzzle is thicker and more obtuse, its head larger and rounder, and there is a sensible depression at the union of the nose and forehead. Its more arched forehead is comparatively broad, the space between the ears being greater than their height. The ears are shorter, wider at the base, and more acute, and have, consequently, a more conical form, whilst the greater length of the hair on the side of the neck of this Wolf makes them appear even shorter than they are. Its neck, covered with a bushy fur, appears short and thick. Its legs are rather short, its feet broad, with thick toes, and its tail is bushy, like the brush of a fox. The European Wolf, on the contrary, has a coarser fur, with less of the soft wool inter- mixed with it. Its head is narrower, and tapers gradually to form the nose, which is pro- * GRIFFITH’s Animal Kingdom, vol. ii. p. 348. 62 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. duced on the same plane with the forehead. Its ears.are higher and somewhat nearer to each’ other ; their length exceeds the distance between the auditory opening and the eye. Its loins are more slender, its legs longer, feet narrower, and its tail is more thinly clothed with fur. The shorter ears, broader forehead, and thicker muzzle of the American Wolf, with the bushiness of the hair behind the cheek, vive it a physiognomy more like the social visage of an Esquimaux dog than the sneaking aspect of an European Wolf. Buffon enumerates black, tawny-gray and white, as the colours exhibited by the fur of the European Wolves. In the American northern Wolves the gray colour predominates, and there is very little of the tawny hue. The general arrangement of the patches of colour is, however, nearly the same in both races. Notwithstanding the above enumeration of the peculiarities of the American Wolf, I do not mean to assert that the differences existing between it and its European congener are sufficiently permanent to constitute them, in the eye of the naturalist, distinct species. The same kind of differences may be traced between the foxes and native races of the domestic dog of the new world and those of the old; the former possessing finer, denser, and longer fur, and broader feet, well calculated for running on the snow. These remarks have been elicited by a com- parison of live specimens of American and Pyrenean Wolves; but I have not had an opportunity of ascertaining whether the Lapland and Siberian Wolves, inhabiting a similar climate with the American ones, have similar peculiarities of form, or whether they differ in physiognomy from the Wolf of the south of Europe. I have, therefore, in the present state of our knowledge, considered it unadvisable to designate the northern Wolf of America by a distinct specific appellation, lest I should unnecessarily add to the list of synonyms, which have already overburthened the science of Zoology. The word occidentalis, which I have affixed to the Linnean name of Canis lupus, is to be considered as merely marking the geographical position of the peculiar race of Wolf which forms the subject of this article. I have avoided adopting, as a specific name, any of the appellations founded on colour, because they could not with propriety be used to denote more than casual varieties of a species, in which the individuals shew such a variety in their markings. Wolves are found in greater or less abundance in different districts, but they may be said to be very common throughout the northern regions ; their foot- marks may be seen by the side of every stream, and a traveller can rarely pass anight in these wilds without hearing them howling around him. They are very numerous on the sandy plains which, lying to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, extend from the sources of the Peace and Saskatchewan rivers towards the MAMMALIA. 63 Missouri. There bands of them hang on the skirts of the buffalo herds, and prey upon the sick and straggling calves. They do not, under ordinary circumstances, venture to attack the full-grown animal: for the hunters informed me that they often see wolves walking through a herd of bylls without exciting the least’ alarm ; and the marksmen, when they crawl towards a buffalo for the purpose of shooting it, occasionally wear a cap with two ears in imitation of the head of a wolf, knowing from experience that they will be suffered to approach nearer in that guise. On the Barren-grounds through which the Coppermine River flows, I had more than once an opportunity of seeing a single wolf in close pursuit of a rein-deer; and I witnessed a chace on Point Lake when covered with ice, which terminated in a fine buck rein-deer being overtaken by a large white wolf, and disabled by a bite in the flank. An Indian, who was concealed on the borders of the lake, ran in and cut the deer’s throat with his knife, the wolf at once relinquishing his prey, and sneaking off. In the chase the poor deer urged its flight by great bounds, which for a time exceeded the speed of the wolf; but it stopped so frequently to gaze on its relentless enemy, that the latter, toiling on at a “long gallop,’* with its tongue lolling out of its mouth, gradually came up. After each hasty look, the poor deer redoubled its efforts to escape ; but either exhausted by fatigue, or enervated by fear, it became, just before it was overtaken, scarcely able to keep its feet. The Wolves destroy many foxes, which they easily run down if they perceive them on a plain at any distance from their hiding places. In January, 1827, a wolf was seen to eatch an Arctic fox within sight of Fort Franklin, and although immediately pursued by hunters on snow-shoes, it bore off its prey in its mouth without any apparent diminution of its speed{. The buffalo-hunters would be unable to preserve the * Lord Byron’s description of a chase by Wolves is.so characteristic, that no apology is requisite for the insertion of the passage from whence this expression is borrowed :— ** We rustled through the leaves like wind, Left shrubs and trees and wolves behind ; By night I heard them on the track, Their troop came hard upon our back, With their long gallop which can tire The hound’s deep note and hunter’s fire: Where’er we flew they followed on, Nor left us with the morning sun ; Behind I saw them scarce a rood, At day-break winding through the wood ; And through the night had heard their feet, Their stealing, rustling step repeat.” MazeEprra. + The same wolf continued for some days to prow] in the vicinity of the Fort, and even stole fish froma sledge, which two dogs were accustomed to draw home from the nets without a driver. As this kind of depredation could not be permitted to go on, the wolf was waylaid and killed. It proved to be a female, which accounted for the sledge-dogs not haying been molested. ; : 64 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. game they kill from the wolves, if the latter were not as fearful as they are rapa- cious, The simple precaution of tying a handkerchief to a branch, or of blowing up a bladder, and hanging it so as to wave in the wind, is sufficient to keep herds of Wolves at a distance *, At times, however, they are impelled by hunger to be more venturous, and they have been known to steal provisions from under a man’s head in the night, and to come into a traveller’s bivouac, and carry off some of his dogs. During our residence at Cumberland House in 1820, a wolf, which had been prowling round the Fort, and was wounded by a musket-ball and driven off, returned after it became dark, whilst the blood was still flowing from its wound, and carried off a dog from amongst fifty others, that howled piteously, but had not courage to unite in an attack on their enemy. I was told of a poor Indian woman who was strangled by a Wolf, while her husband, who saw the attack, was hastening to her assistance; but this was the only instance of their destroying human life that came to my knowledge. As the winter advances and the snow becomes deep, the wolves being no longer able to hunt with success, suffer from hunger, and in severe seasons many die, In the spring of 1826 a large gray Wolf was driven by hunger to prowl amongst the Indian huts which were erected in the immediate vicinity of Fort Franklin, but not being successful in picking up aught to eat, it was found a few days afterwards lying dead on the snow near the Fort. Its extreme emaciation and the emptiness of its intestines shewed clearly that it died from inanition. The skin and cranium were brought to England, and presented to the Museum of the Edinburgh University; and a drawing from it is to be engraved for Mr. Wilson’s beautiful Illustrations of Zoology. The American Wolf burrows, and brings forth its young in earths with several outlets like those of a fox. I saw some of their burrows on the plains of the Saskatchewan, and also on the banks of the Coppermine River. The number of young in a litter varies from four or five to eight or nine. In Captain Parry’s and Captain Franklin’s narratives, instances are recorded of the female Wolves asso- ciating with the domestic dog ; and we were informed that the Indians endeavour to improve their sledge-dogs by crossing the breed with wolves. ‘The resem- blance between the northern wolves and the domestic dog of the Indians is so great, that the size and strength of the Wolf seems to be the only difference. I * The Wolves in the north of Europe are equally cautious. ‘‘ To prevent hs Wolves from destroying the rein- deer, the Laplanders tie them to some tree, and it seldom happens that they are attacked in that situation: for the Wolf, being a suspicious animal, is afraid that there should be some snare laid for him, and that this is employed for a bait to draw him thither.””— Regnard. : + The track in the snow shewed that it was the wounded Wolf which had returned. MAMMALIA, 65 have more than once mistaken a band of wolves for the dogs of a party of Indians ; and the howl of the animals of both species is prolonged so exactly in the same key, that even the practised ear of an Indian fails at times to discriminate them. The following notices, by Captain Lyons, of the wolves of Melville Peninsula, are good illustrations of the strength and habits of the northern wolves in general :—‘‘ A fine dog was lost in the afternoon. It had strayed to the hum- mocks ahead without its master, and Mr. Elder, who was near to the spot, saw five wolves rush at, attack, and devour it in an incredibly short space of time : before he could reach the place the carcase was torn in pieces, and he found only the lower part of one leg. The boldness of the wolves was altogether astonishing, as they were almost constantly seen amongst the hummocks, or lying quietly at no great distance in wait for dogs. From all we observed, I have no reason to suppose that they would attack a single unarmed man, both English and Esqui- maux frequently passing them without a stick in their hands ; the animals, however, exhibited no symptoms of fear, but rather a kind of tacit agreement not to be the beginners of a quarrel, even though they might have been certain of proving victorious.” —‘ The wolves had now grown so bold as to come alongside, and on this night they broke into a snow-hut, in which a couple of newly purchased Esquimaux dogs were confined, and carried them off, but not without some difficulty, for in the day-light we found even the ceiling of the hut sprinkled with blood and hair. When the alarm was given, and the wolves were fired at, one of them was observed carrying a dead dog in his mouth, clear of the ground, at a canter, notwithstanding the animal was of his own weight. Before morning they tore a quantity of canvass off the observatory, and devoured it.”—‘ The Esqui- maux wolf-trap is made of strong slabs of ice, long and narrow; so that a fox can with difficulty turn himself in it, but a wolf must actually remain in the position in which he is taken. The door is a heavy portcullis of ice, sliding in two well-secured groves of the same substance, and is kept up by a line, which, passing over the top of the trap, is carried through a hole at the furthest extremity: to the end of the line is fastened a small hoop of whalebone, and to this any kind of flesh-bait is attached. From the slab which terminates the trap, a projection of ice, or a peg of wood or bone, points inwards near the bottom, and under this the hoop is lightly hooked ; the slightest pull at the bait liberates it, the door falls in an instant, and the wolf is speared where he lies.” 66 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. Var. A. Lupus erissus. Common Gray Wolf. Grey Wolf. Coox’s Third Voyage, vol. ii. p. 293. Lewis anD CLARKE, vol. i. p. 206, 283. Common Gray Wolf. ScnHooicnrart?’s Travels, p. 285. Canis lupus—griseus. Sapine, Franklin’s Voy., p. 654. Canis lupus. Parry’s First, Second, and Third Voyages. Mahaygan. Cree Inpians. Yes. CHEPEWYANS. Amarok. EsquiMaux. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, remarks, that ‘‘the wolves towards Hudson’s Bay are of different colours—grey and white, and some black and white; the black hairs being mixed with the white chiefly along the back. In Canada they have been found entirely white.’”’ Lewis and Clark also say, “the large wolves of the Missouri are lower, shorter in the legs, and thicker than the Atlantic Wolf ; their colour, which is not affected by the seasons, is of every variety of shade, from a gray or blackish-brown to a cream-coloured white.” The gray, or rather the gray and white variety, is the Common Wolf from Lake Superior to the northern extremity of the Continent, and in the islands beyond it. It has been seen on the Atlantic coast from Nootka northwards. The following description, by Mr. Sabine, of a specimen procured at Cumberland House, in latitude 54°, and deposited by Captain Franklin in the British Museum, will make the reader acquainted with its appearance :— DESCRIPTION, “ Tt is very dissimilar in colour to the usual state of the (European) wolf, and is of a much greater size. The teeth are remarkably strong and large; the ears sharp and erect, thickly clothed with dark-brown hair, tipped with gray; above and below on the neck the hair is thick and bushy; the whole of the body is covered with a mixture of long gray and black | hairs, having some few white ones intermixed on the back ; the sides and belly are dark gray; the tail is bushy, gray tipped with brown; the legs are strong, covered with dark-brown hair ; claws strong, short, and arched.” A specimen procured at Carlton House on the same river, and now in the Museum of the Zoological Society*, has the face, cheeks, throat, belly, hips, and tail, white, except a small part of the latter, adjoining the ramp, where it is blackish. On the back and sides there is an intermixture of long black and white hairs, which, with the grayish wool that partially * No. 33. Catalogue of the Museum. MAMMALIA. 67 appears, gives a general grayish hue to these parts, deepening along the dorsal line into black. The hair on the back part of the cheeks is very bushy. In other individuals which I have seen, the mixture of dark-gray with black and brown forms distinct patches on an almost white ground. There is generally a darker line along the spine. The Gray Wolf differs in size in different districts, and even in the same dis- trict individuals differing much in height and strength, but (as far as one can judge from their teeth) of nearly equal age, are to be found. The wolves of the desert country lying to the north of Great Slave Lake, and much. frequented by rein- deer, are of great dimensions. Farther north again, in the islands of the Polar sea, visited by Captain Parry, they were generally smaller, their average height in that quarter being only about twenty-seven inches. Captain Sabine states those of Melville Island to be as big as a full-sized setter-dog. DIMENSIONS Of the prepared skin of a Gray Wolf killed at Cumberland House. Feet. Inches. ; Feet. Inches. Length of the head and body A 4 4 0 Height to the top of the shoulder 0 2 0 35 tail . . : 1 2 DIMENSIONS Of a Gray Wolf starved to death at Fort Franklin, April 1821, (measured before it was skinned.) Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of head and body . : - 4 2 haunches, the feet being flat on the ground, = tail (vertebre) : ° «i 7 and the fur of the back pressed down oY 8 “5 tail, including fur . ree 2 Height with the fur of the back in its natural Height at the fore-shoulder, and also at the rough state. C c : oe he 3 0 DIMENSIONS Of a specimen as mounted in the Zoological Museum, which was procured at Carlton House. Feet, Inches. ,Feet. Inches. Length of head and body ews E ame 4 Height of the back,—fur rough 0 5 2 5 A tail (vertebre) : | 31 | Distance from top of the nose to the orbit . 0 4} tail, including the hate ‘; Ao 64 | Height of the ‘ear, measured on the inner Height of the back,—fur pressed down . 5 2 2 side é a : 0 . - Oo 33 68 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. Var. B. Lupus atsus. White Wolf. White Wolf. Lewis anp Cxiarkx, vol. i. p. 107; vol. iii. p. 263. Canis lupus—albus. Sasine. Franklin's Journ., p. 655. White Wolf. IconrEs. FRraNKLIN’s Jowrn., p. 312. Lyon’s Private Journ., p. 297. Wolves totally white are not uncommon in the most northern parts of America, particularly in districts nearly destitute of wood*. They are occasionally seen also on the plains of the Missouri. A Yellow Wolf, mentioned by Lewis and Clark, (vol. i. p. 40) may be perhaps classed with the white variety. DESCRIPTION. The White Wolf figured in Captain Franklin’s narrative above referred to, was killed near Fort Enterprise, in February, 1821. Its ears were short and erect. Its fur was long and of a yellowish-white colour over the whole body, the nose alone having a slight tinge of gray. Its DimENsions were as follows :— Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of head and body : : 2 4 4 Girth before the hind legs 4 2 0 <5 tail . riot a Length?of fore-leg and foot with toons 1 8 Height at both fore eral hind arenes 5 2 10 35 hind ditto ditto ditto 1 10 Girth behind the fore-legs | ¢ . 6 6 ; Var. C. Lupus Sticte. Pied Wolf. Wolves having black colours instead of gray, distributed in large patches on the sides, are sometimes seen in the fur countries, associated with the Common Gray Wolves. On the banks of the Mackenzie, I saw five young wolves leaping and tumbling over each other, with all the playfulness of the puppies of the domestic dog, and it is not improbable that they were all of one litter. One of them was pied, another entirely black, and the rest shewed the common gray colours. Iwas unable to procure a specimen of the Pied Wolf. * Muller informs us that white wolves are found on the Jenisei ; and Regnard says that the Lapland wolves “ are almost all of a whitish-gray colour ; there are some of them white.” It is desirable that these Siberian or Lapland wolves should be compared with the Pyrenean races. Mey f eae gies “J ee RANA * ¥ Si Veet i‘ Ryo PP ee a a (iN } be Z FS5 ~ = PRP) FIN aN u“ CANIS LUPUS_VAR.,.NUBIL’7JS. kh MAMMALIA. 69 Var. D. Lupus nusitus. The Dusky Wolf. > Canis nubilus, Say. Long’s Exped., vol. i. p. 333. Dusky Wolf. GopMan’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 265. PuarTE II. The Dusky Wolf differs little from the pure black variety which follows. It was considered by Mr. Say to be a distinct species, on account of its colour, a different physiognomy from that of the Common Red Wolf, its more robust form, and its shorter ears ; but, with the exception of colour, these characters are common to all the varieties of the northern American Wolf, and are in fact some of the peculiari- ties that distinguish them from Pyrenean wolves. DESCRIPTION. Mr. Say’s specimen had “a dusky colour; the hair cinereous at the base, then brownish- black, then gray, then black; the gray of the hairs combining with the black tips to produce a mottled appearance; the gray predominating on the sides. Ears short, deep brownish- black, with a patch of gray hair within. The under parts dusky ferruginous, grayish with long hairs between the thighs, and with a large white spot on the breast; the ferruginous colour very much narrowed on the neck, but dilated on the lower part of the cheeks ; legs brownish-black, with a slight admixture of gray hairs, excepting on the anterior edge of the hind thighs, and the lower edgings of the toes, where the gray predominated ; the tail was short, fusiform, a little tinged with ferruginous, black above, near the base, and at the tip; the top of the trunk hardly attaining to the os calcis ; the longer hairs of the back, par- ticularly over the shoulders, resembled a short, sparse mane.” DIMENSIONS. Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of head and body . Ge .4 33 Length from anterior canthus of the eye to 7 the trunk of the tail . 3 sl 1 the middle of the tip of the nose. a @ 54 5 ear from anterior angle to the tip 0 38 Distance between the anterior angles of the >, from the anterior angle of the ear ears, rather more than : . . 0 3 to the posterior canthus of the eye pada!) 43 | The Dusky Wolf, figured in this work, was killed at Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake, in latitude 61°, and is now preserved in the Museum of the Zoological Society. 70 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. DESCRIPTION. It is covered with long hairs, intermixed with a thick woolly down, more or less conspicuous on different parts of the body. The long hairs are mostly black, but there are a few white ones interspersed. The wool.or down is of a dull yellowish-gray colour ; least of it is seen on the back, which has consequently nearly a black colour; the fur covering the spine is long, blackish towards the roots, and shining black at the tips; the sides are dusky-gray, many of the long hairs having apparently fallen off; the belly is blacker. The anterior parts of the legs are hoary from an intimate intermixture of black and white hairs, in which the former predominate. The posterior surfaces of the legs are covered with long, white and gray fur. The tail is black, with a few white hairs, and has a black tip. The wool on the tail is of the same colour with that on the body, but it is not visible until the long hairs are turned aside. The chin and extremity of the upper lip are white, and there are many long white hairs on the cheek. The feet are very hairy, the hair on the soles projecting beyond the claws. DIMENSIONS Of the specimen after it was mounted. Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of head and body 4 2 Distance between the ears P 210) 34 op tail (vertebra) 1 2 >, from the top of the nose to the s tail, with the fur ’ - iI 6 | anterior part of the orbit 10) 5} Height, pressing down the fur 2 ae 5, between the eyes A > "2 24 », of the ear on the inner side 0 3h Length of the head c 1 1 Var. E. Lupus ater. Black American Wolf. Loup noir de Canada, “Burron, vol. ix. p. 364. t. 41. (maie.) Black Wolf. Say, Long’s Exped., vol. i. p.95. FRANKLIN’S Jowrn., vol.i. p. 172. GriFritH’s Anim. King. cum Icone, vol. ii. p. 348 (opt.) Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 267. Icone ex Griffithii icone mutuato. Canis Lycaon. Harian’s Faun. Amer., p. 82. We saw some Black Wolves on the banks of the Mackenzie, but they are more common on the river Saskatchewan, and in districts further south. Mr. Say informs us that they abound on the Missouri. The Indians do not consider them to bea distinct race, but report that one or more black whelps are occasionally found in a litter of a Gray Wolf. In conceding to their opinion, I do not mean to assert that the offspring of Black Wolves are not most frequently black. Five Black Wolves are mentioned by Say, as having been taken from one den ; and Mr. MAMMALIA. 71 Hood, in Captain’ Franklin’s Narrative, records an instance in which a Black Wolf was shot, and three black whelps taken from her den. The Black Wolves differ in external appearance from the gray ones only in colour, and their haunts and habits are'precisely the same. Buffon, in his descrip- tion of a young Black Wolf from Canada, remarks that the ears were wider, further apart, and more pointed, than those of the European Wolf; the eyes smaller, and also further apart. The comparatively broad forehead, indicated by the greater distance between the ears and eyes, is, as I have already stated, common tovall the varieties of the Wolf of the northern parts of America. The French naturalist’s description of the behaviour of this Wolf, when turned out against a bull, is so characteristic, not only of the American Wolf, but also of the Indian dogs, when under the influence of fear, that I cannot resist quoting it at length :—“ Cet animal,” dit il, “avoit été pris fort jeane en Canada, et apporté en France par un Officier de Marine, qui le garda dans sa maison pendant quelque tems ; mais l’animal étant devenu féroce en grandissant, il fut mis au combat de taureau a Paris, ot il ne montra-pas beaucoup de courage lorsqu’on le fit entrer en lice mais dés que l’on approchoit de la loge ot: on le gardoit, il entroit en fureur, se jetoit brusquement en avant de toute la longueur de sa chaine, montroit les dents et aboyoit, non pas comme les chiens, mais seulement par des cris successifs et inter- rompus qu’il ne repetoit qu’aprés d’assez longs intervales.”’ I have frequently observed an Indian dog, after being worsted in combat, retreat into a corner, and how] at intervals for an hour together. They also how! piteously when apprehensive of punishment, and throw themselves into attitudes strongly resembling those exhibited by a wolf when caught ina trap. The plate given by Buffon is but an indifferent representation of the Black Wolf. The individual was not only young, but its fur, as is customary with animals in captivity, seems to have been in a bad state*. A most excellent etching, by Landseer, of a Black Wolf, kept in the Tower, has appeared in Griffith’s translation of Cuvier’s Régne Animal. ‘Though it may be remarked, that even in this the fur is not represented in the fine condition which the animal exhibits during the winter in its native climate. Linnzus has described the Black Wolf of Europe under the appellation of Canis Lycaon ; and Baron Cuvier and other naturalists have followed his example in speaking of it as a distinct species; but authors have not clearly pointed out any * The small size of this specimen, by the way, may have given rise to Gmelin’s mistake in confounding it with the black fox under the name of Canis Lycaon. G2 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. difference between the Canis Lycaon of Europe, and the Canis Lupus ; though it has happened that the peculiar characters of the American Wolves have sometimes been ascribed to the Canis Lycaon, from the descriptions having been taken from American specimens. One can easily understand how Black Wolves accidentally congregating may produce an offspring of the same hue with themselves, until, by a concurrence of circumstances, the black variety is the predominating one in a particular district ; but the breed must be frequently contaminated by wolves of other colours. Pallas, in a letter to Pennant, says, “I have seen at Moscow about twenty spurious animals from dogs and Black Wolves. They are for the most part like wolves, except that some carry their tails higher, and have a kind of coarse barking. They multiply among themselves, and some of the whelps are grayish, rusty, or even of the whitish hue of the Arctic wolves *.” Black Wolves are more frequent in the southern parts of Europe than in the northern ; and to the south of the Pyrenees they are said to be more common than the ordinary species or variety. In like manner the American Wolf is more common on the Missouri than farther north ; and it is reported to be plentiful in Florida, where, ae to Bartram, the females are distinguished or a white spot on the breast t * Arctic Zoology, vol. i. p. 42. + Grirritu, Anim. Kingd., vol. ii. p. 348. + WarbDEn, United States, vol.i, p.207. DesmarEest, Mammalogie, p. 198. “4 = SS of O\s+ ~ ' <——— tN S SF NY j CO Ny YA SERIES Thal » MAMMALIA. "Ce [23.] 2. Canis LaTRANS. (Say.) The Prairie Wolf. Small Wolves. Du Pratz, Louisiana, vol. ii. p. 54. Prairie Wolf. Gass’s Journal, &c., p. 56. Prairie Wolf and Burrowing Dog. Lewis and Crark, vol. i. pp. 102, 134, 2835 vol. ili. pp. 28, 238. ScHootcraFt’s Travels, p. 285. Canis latrans. Say. Long’s Exped., p. 27, note, p. 332. Cased Wolves. Hupson Bay Company’s Lists. Meesteh-chaggoneesh. CREE INDIANS. Pate tv. This animal has long been known to voyagers on the Missouri and Saskatche- wan as distinct from the Common Wolf. It is mentioned in Mr. Graham’s MSS., and its skins have always formed part of the Hudson Bay Company’s importa- tions, under the name of Cased Wolves*. Lewis and Clark give a good descrip- tion of it (vol. i. p. 283), and Mr. Say has added the specific name. The Prairie Wolf has much resemblance to the common Gray Wolf in colour, but differs from it so much in size, voice and manners, that it is fully entitled to rank as a distinct species. ‘It inhabits the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchewan, and also, though in smaller numbers, those of the Columbia. On the banks of the Sas- katchewan, these animals start from the earth in great numbers on hearing the report of a gun, and gather around the hunter in expectation of getting the offal of the animal he has slaughtered. ‘They hunt in packs, and are much more fleet than the Common Wolf. I was informed by a gentleman who has resided forty years on the Saskatchewan, and is an experienced hunter, that the only animal on the plains which he could not overtake, when mounted on a good horse, was the Prong- horned Antelope, and that the meesteh-chaggoneesh or Prairie Wolf was the next im speed. The Canadian stag is less fleet ; and as to the red fox, it is soon run down. The northern range of the Prairie Wolf is about the fifty-fifth degree of latitude, and it probably extends southwards to Mexico. It associates in greater numbers than the Gray Wolf of the same districts; hunts in packs, and brings forth its young in burrows on the open plain remote from the woods. The Prairie Wolf, described by Lewis and Clark and Mr. Say, has a narrower * The skins are not split open like the large Wolf skins, but stripped off and inverted or cased, like the skin of a fox or rabbit. L TA NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. muzzle and longer ears than the one found on the Saskatchewan, but the dif- ference is not so great as to enable us to speak of them as distinct varieties. DESCRIPTION. The fur of the Prairie Wolf is of the same quality with that of the Gray Wolf, and consists of long hairs, with a thick wool at their base. The wool has a smoky or dull lead colour; the long hairs on the back are white either for their whole length, or they are merely tipped with black. The prevailing colour along the spine is dark blackish-gray, sprinkled with white hairs. Its cheeks, upper lip, chin, throat, belly, and insides of the thighs are white. There is a light brown tint upon the upper surface of the nose, on the forehead, and between the ears, on the shoulders, on the sides, where it is mixed with gray, and on the outsides of the thighs and legs. The tail is gray and brown, with a black tip. Some individuals have a broad black mark on the shins of the fore-legs, like the European wolf. The ears are short, erect, and roundish, white anteriorly and brown behind. The tail is bushy, and is clothed like the body with wool and long hair. Some specimens want the brown tints, and have more of the gray colour. DIMENSIONS Of No. 34, Zoological Museum, killed on the Saskatchewan. Feet. Inches, Feet. Inches. Length of head and body 6 : _ 3 0 Distance between the end of the nose and ¥ tail (vertebra) ; oma 0 the anterior angle of the eye 0 33 55 tail, with the fur... a 5 23 Ss between the ears as “ - 0 3} 35 the ear, measured behind 0 23 | 55 between the eyes F - 720 2} DIMENSIONS Of a scull of the Saskatchewan sort. Inches. Lines. From the incisors to the junction of the Inches, Lines, The total length of the nose in a recent occipital and sagittal crests by callipers 8 0 specimen ought to be about 2 - 4 0 From ditto to ditto, following the curvature Greatest breadth of the scull, i. e. from the of forehead 4 6 : Aw 11 outside of one zygomatic arch to the out- Length of nasal bones 2 7 side of the other. 5 0 The os incisivum projects beyond the Seal From incisors along the base of ae scull to bones 5 A ° sl 3 theinferior margin of the occipital foramen 7 0 There is a second specimen in the Zoological Museum, brought from the plains of the Columbia, which has the narrow muzzle and long ears of Say’s specimens. -. MAMMALIA, To [24.] 3. Canis Famiiaris. (Linn.) Domestic Dog. Canis F. var. A. BoreaLis. (Desmarest.) Hsquimaux Dog. Canis familiaris var. N. borealis. Drsmarest. Mamm., p. 194. Eskimaux Dog. Caprarin Lyon’s Private Journal, p. 332. 244. Icones*, Parry’s Second Voyage, p. 290 and 388. The great resemblance which the Domestic Dogs of the aboriginal tribes of America bear to the wolves of the same country, was remarked by the earliest settlers from Europe f, and has induced some naturalists of much observation to consider them to be merely half-tamed wolves{. Without entering at all into the question of the origin of the Domestic Dog, I may state that the resemblance between the wolves and the dogs of those Indian nations, who still preserve their ancient mode of life, continues to be very remarkable, and it is nowhere more so, than at the very northern extremity.of the Continent, the Esquimaux dogs being not only extremely like the gray wolves of the Arctic circle, in form and colour, but also nearly equalling them in size. The dog has generally a shorter tail than the wolf, and carries it more frequently curled over the hip, but the latter practice is not totally unknown to the wolf, although that animal, when under the observation of man, being generally apprehensive of danger or on the watch, seldom displays this mark of satisfaction. I have, however, seen a family of wolves playing together, occasionally carry their tails curled upwards. In the Museum of the Zoological Society there is a specimen of an Esquimaux dog, which was brought originally from Baflin’s Bay by Captain Ross’s expedition, and which was afterwards the faithful attendant of Captain Parry’s crews during the memorable winter of 1819, which they passed on Melville Island. The great likeness of this specimen to a gray wolf from Carlton House, preserved in the same case, must be obvious to every one who has seen them, although their birth-places lie upwards of twenty degrees of latitude apart, and they are, therefore, not so favourable examples to shew the resemblance as if they had been natives of the same district. - * In L’Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes, there is a plate and description of a supposed Esquimaux Dog, a present to the Jardin du Roi ; but Capt. Sabine informs us that it is a cross between a real Esquimaux bitch and a Newfoundland dog.— Appendix, Parry's First Voyage, p. xxxvi. + Smitu, Virginia ¢t Kau. . L2 76 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. DESCRIPTION, The Dog has short conical ears like the American wolf, but its nose is still shorter than that of the latter animal. Its nose, cheeks, belly, and legs, are white. The fore-legs are destitute of the black mark above the wrist, which characterises the European wolf, and which is visible in some American wolves, but not in all. The top of the head and the back are almost black, but there is a narrow white line down the spine of the back, which I have not noticed in any coloured wolf. Its sides are thinly covered with long, black, and some white hairs, and there is a shorter dense coat of yellowish-gray wool, like that of the wolf, which is partly visible. The tail, like the back, is clothed with black and white hairs, the latter predominating at its tip. There is a thick wool on the tail concealed by the longer hairs. DIMENSIONS Of the specimen in the Zoological Museum. Feet. Inches, Feet. Inches, Length from the end of the nose to the tail 4 3 { Height of the ears (inside) : . 0 3 s of the tail (vertebre) é 1 2 Breadth between the eyes : 0 2k 5 a including the fur at tip 1 5 36) 9 ears 5 0 4} from end of the nose to the orbit 0 4 | Captain Lyon had so many opportunities of studying the habits of the Esqui- maux dog, and his account of them is so much to the purpose, that I think it advantageous to the reader to have it repeated here in his own words :— ‘“* Having myself possessed, during our second winter, a team of eleven very fine animals, I was enabled to become better acquainted with their good qualities than could possibly have been the case by the casual visits of the Esquimaux to the ships. The form of the Esquimaux Dog is very similar to that of our shepherd’s dogs in England, but he is more muscular and broad-chested, owing to the constant and severe work to which he is brought up. His ears are pointed, and the aspect of the head is somewhat savage. In size, a fine dog is about the height of the Newfoundland breed, but broad like a mastiff in every part except the nose. The hair of the coat is in summer, as well as in winter, very long, but during the cold season a soft downy under covering is found, which does not appear in warm weather. Young dogs are put into harness as soon as they can walk, and being tied up, soon acquire a habit of pulling, in their attempts to recover their liberty, or to roam in quest of their mother. When about two months old, they are put into the sledge with the grown dogs, and sometimes eight or ten little ones are under the charge of some steady old animal, where, with frequent and sometimes cruel beatings, they soon receive a competent education. Every dog is distinguished by a particular name, and the angry repetition of it has an effect as instantaneous as an application of the whip, which instrument is of an MAMMALIA. Te immense length, having a lash of from eighteen to twenty-four feet, while the handle is of one foot only. With this, by throwing it on one side or the other of the leader, and repeating certain words, the animals are guided or stopped. Wah-aya, aya, whooa, to the right. A-wha, a-wha, a-whut, to the left. A-look, turn, and whooa, stop. When the sledge is stopped, they are all taught to lie down, by throwing the whip gently over their backs, and they will remain in this position even for hours, until their master returns to them. A walrus is frequently drawn along by three or four of these dogs, and seals are sometimes carried home in the same manner; though I have in some instances seen a dog bring home the greater part of a seal in panniers placed across his back. The latter mode of conveyance is often used in summer, and the dogs also carry skins or furniture overland to the sledges when their masters are going on any expedition. It might be supposed that in so cold a climate these animals had peculiar periods of gestation, like the wild creatures ; but, on the contrary, they bear young at every season of the year, and seldom exceed five at a litter. Cold has very little effect on them ; for, although the dogs at the huts slept within the snow passages, mine at the ships had no shelter, but lay alongside, with the thermometer at 42° and 44°, and with as little concern as if the weather had been mild. I found, by several experiments, that three of my dogs could draw me on a sledge, weighing 100lbs., at the rate of one mile in six minutes ; and as a proof of the strength of a well-grown dog, my leader drew 196lbs. singly, and to the same distance, in eight minutes. At another time, seven of my dogs ran a mile in four minutes, drawing a heavy sledge full of men. Afterwards, in carrying stores to the Fury, one mile distant, nine dogs drew 161Ilbs., in the space of nine minutes. My sledge was on runners neither shod nor iced; but had the runners been iced, at least 40lbs. might have been added for each dog.” In another passage Captain Lyon says, ‘‘ Our eleven dogs were large, and even majestic looking animals; and an old one, of peculiar sagacity, was placed at their head by having a longer trace, so as to lead them through the safest and driest places ; these animals having such a dread of water, as to receive a severe beating before they would swim a foot. The leader was instant in obeying the voice of the driver, who never beat, but repeatedly called to him by name. When the dogs slackened their pace, the sight of a seal or bird was sufficient to put them instantly to their full speed ; and even though none of these might be seen on the ice, the cry of ‘a seal !'—‘a bear!’—‘a bird!’ &c., was enough to give play to the legs and voices of the whole pack. It was a beautiful sight to observe the two sledges racing at full speed to the same object, the dogs and men in full cry, and 73 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. the vehicles splashing through the holes of water with the velocity and spirit of rival stage-coaches. There is something of the spirit of professed whips in these. wild races ; for the young men delight in passing each other’s sledge, and jockeying the hinder one by crossing the path. In passing on different routes the right hand is yielded, and should an unexperienced driver endeavour to take the left, he would have some difficulty in persuading his team to do so. The only unpleasant cir- cumstance attending these races is, that a poor dog is sometimes entangled and thrown down, when the sledge, with perhaps a heavy load, is unavoidably drawn over his body. The driver sits on the fore-part of the vehicle, from whence he jumps when requisite to pull it clear of any impediments which may lie in the way, and he also guides it by pressing either foot on the ice. ‘The voice and long whip answer all the purposes of reins, and the dogs can be made to turn a corner as dexterously as horses, though not in such an orderly manner, since they are con- stantly fighting ; and I do not recollect to have seen one receive a flogging without instantly wreaking his passion on the ears of his neighbours. The cries of the men are not more melodious than those of the animals; and their wild looks and gestures, when animated, give them an appearance of devils driving wolves before them. Our dogs had eaten nothing for forty-eight hours, and could not have gone over less than seventy miles of ground; yet they returned, to all appearance, as fresh and active as when they first set out.” The Esquimaux dogs are likewise useful to their masters in discovering, by the scent, the winter retreats which the bears make under the snow. Canis F. var. B. tacopus. Hare Indian Dog. PLATE Vv. This variety of Dog is cultivated at present, so far as I know, only by the Hare Indians, and other tribes that frequent the borders of Great Bear Lake and the banks of the Mackenzie. It is used by them solely in the chase, being too small to be useful as a beast of burthen or draught. EWN MQ MAMMALIA. ~ 79 DESCRIPTION, The Hare Indian Dog has a mild countenance, with, at times, an expression of demureness. It has a small head, slender muzzle; erect, thickish ears; somewhat oblique eyes; rather slender legs, and a broad hairy foot, with a bushy tail, which it usually carries curled over its right hip. It is covered with long hair, particularly about the shoulders, and at the roots of the hair, both on the body and tail, there is a thick wool. The hair on the top of the head is long, and on the posterior part of the cheek it is not only long, but being also directed back- _ wards, it gives the animal, when the fur is in prime order, the appearance of having a ruff round the neck. Its face, muzzle, belly, and legs, are of a pure white colour, and there is a white central line passing over the crown of the head and the occiput. The anterior surface of the ear is white, the posterior yellowish-gray or fawn-colour. The end of the nose, the eye- lashes, the roof of the mouth, and part of the gums, are black. There is a dark patch over the eye. On the back and sides there are larger patches of dark blackish-gray or lead-colour mixed with fawn-colour and white, not definite in form, but running into each other. The tail is bushy, white beneath and at the tip. The feet are covered with hair which almost con- ceals the claws. Some long hairs between the toes project over the soles, but there are naked callous protuberances at the root of the toes and on the soles, even in the winter time, as in all the wolves described in the preceding pages. The American foxes, on the contrary, have the whole of their soles densely covered with hair in the winter. Its ears are proportionably nearer each other than those of the Esquimaux dog. The size of the Hare Indian Dog is inferior to that of the prairie wolf, but rather exceeds that of the red American fox. Its resemblance, however, to the former is so great, that, on comparing live specimens, I could detect no marked difference in form, (except the smallness of its cranium,) nor in the fineness of the fur, and arrangement of its spots of colour. The length of the fur on the neck, back part of the cheeks, and top of the head, was the same in both species. It, in fact, bears the same relation to the prairie wolf that the Esquimaux Dog does to the great gray wolf. It is not, however, a breed that is cultivated in the districts frequented by the prairie wolf, being now confined to the northern tribes, who have been taught the use of fire-arms within a very few years. Before that weapon was introduced by the fur-traders, a dog, so well calculated by the lightness of its body and the breadth of its paws, for passing over the snow, must have been invaluable for running down game, and it is reasonable to conclude that it was then generally spread amongst the Indian tribes north of the Great Lakes. The Hare Indian Dog is very playful, has an affectionate disposition, and is soon gained by kindness. It is not, however, very docile, and dislikes confinement of every kind. It is very fond of being caressed, rubs its back against the hand like a cat, and soon makes an acquaintance with a stranger. Like a wild animal, it is 80 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. very mindful of an injury, nor does it, like a spaniel, crouch under the lash; but if it is conscious of having deserved punishment, it will hover round the tent of its master the whole day, without coming within his reach, even when he calls it. Its howl, when hurt or afraid, is that of the wolf; but when it sees any unusual object, it makes a singular attempt at barking, commencing by a kind of growl, which is not, however, unpleasant, and ending in a prolonged howl. Its voice is very much like that of the prairie wolf. The larger dogs, which we had for draught at Fort Franklin, and which were of the mongrel breed in common use at the fur- posts, used to pursue the Hare Indian Dogs for the purpose of devouring them ; but the latter far outstripped them in speed, and easily made their escape. A young puppy, which I purchased from the Hare Indians, became greatly attached to me, and when about seven months old ran on the snow by the side of my sledge for nine hundred miles, without suffering from fatigue. During this march. it fre- quently, of its own accord, carried a small twig or one of my mittens for a mile or two; but, although very gentle in its manners, it shewed little aptitude in learning any of the arts which the Newfoundland dogs so speedily acquire, of fetching and | carrying when ordered. This Dog was killed and eaten by an Indian, on the Saskatchewan, who pretended that he mistook it for a fox. Canis F. var. C. Canapensis. North American Dog. Attim. Crex Inptans. Animous. ALGON@UINS. Watts. Sztovaccouss Inpians. Shong. STone Inp1Iaws. Hudther. Faru InpIans. Ametoo. Buacx-FrereT Inpians. Hey. SaRsEES, or CIRCEES. Thling. CHEPEWYANS. By the above title I wish to designate the kind of Dog which is most generally cultivated by the native tribes of Canada, and the Hudson’s Bay countries. It is intermediate in size and form between the two preceding varieties; and by those who consider the domestic races of dog to be derived from wild animals, this might be termed the offspring of a cross between the prairie and gray wolves. This breed wants the strength of the Esquimaux dog, and does not possess the MAMMALIA. 81 affectionate and playful disposition of the Hare Indian variety. It is used at certain seasons in the chase, and by some tribes as a beast of burthen or draught ; but it has all the sneaking habits of the wolf, with less courage, and without the intelligence of that animal. It unites with its companions to assail a stranger on his approach to the hut of its master; retreats on the least show of resistance, or endeavours to get behind him, and silently snaps at his legs. When opposed to another dog, it curls the upper lip very much, shews the whole of its teeth, and snarls for a long time, before it ventures to bite. A little Scotch terrier, that accompanied us on the last expedition, disconcerted the largest of them by the smartness of his attack, and used to send an animal, more than four times his own size, howling away, although the density of tts woolly covering prevented his short teeth from wounding the skin. When they fight among themselves, the dog that is vanquished, is not unfrequently torn in pieces by the rest of the pack. They hunt the larger domestic animals in packs, snapping at their heels and harassing them until worn out, but scarcely ever venture to seize them by the throat. All the dogs of a camp assemble at night to howl in unison, particularly when the moon shines bright. The fur of the North American Dog is similar to that of the Esquimaux breed, and of the wolves. The prevailing colours are black and gray, mixed with white. Some of them are entirely black. ‘Their thick woolly coat forms an admirable protection against the cold, and when they are fat they can lie all night on the snow without inconvenience during the most intense cold. In the summer time they are fond of making deep holes in sandy ground ; and this habit is retained by the mon- grel breed which the Canadian voyagers rear for draught. These often burrow completely underneath the out-buildings of a fort, and will in a single night make their way beneath the door of a store-house, if the precaution has not been taken of flooring it with wood. ‘The flesh of these Dogs is esteemed before that of almost any other animal by the Canadian voyagers, and is eaten by some of the Indian tribes on the Saskatchewan and shores of the Great Lakes; but the Chepewyan tribes hold the practice in abhorrence, because they consider themselves to be descendants of a dog. I quote Theodat’s account of this variety of dog, written in the year 1630, because it applies pretty correctly to the North American dogs of the present day, and shews that at that early period, and perhaps even before the arrival of Europeans, they formed an esteemed article of the food of the natives :— ** Les chiens du Canada sont un peu differens des nostres, sinon au naturel et au sentiment, qui ne leur est point mauvais. Is hurlent plustost qu’ils n’abayent, et ont tous les oreilles droictes comme renards, mais au reste tout semblables au matins de mediocre grandeur de nos villageois; ils arrestent l’eslan et descouvurent la M 82 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. giste de la beste, et sont de fort petite despence a leur maistre, mais au reste plus propre a la cuisine qu’a tout autre service. La chair en est assez bonne et sent aucunement le porc ; j’en mangeois assez peu souvent, car un telle viande est fort estimée dans le pays, c’est pourquoy je n’en avois pas si souvent que j’eusse bien desiré. [Ils sont fort importuns dans les cabanes, marchent sur vous, et s’ils re- contrent le pot au descouvert ils ont incontinent leur museau aigu dans la sagamité, qui n’en est pas estimée moins nette*.” Canis Fr. var.D. Nova Cateponie. Carrier Indian Dog. Scacah. Carrier Inpians. The Attnah or Carrier Indians of New Caledonia possess a variety of dog which differs from the other northern races. Mr. M‘Vicar made me a present of an excellent example of this breed, which I intended to have brought to England ; but it was stolen, and fell a sacrifice to the desire which a party of Canadian voyagers had to partake of a meal of dog’s flesh. [regretted its loss the more, as, intending to have a portrait taken of it, I had neglected to draw up a detailed account of its characteristic features. : DESCRIPTION. It had erect ears, and a head large in proportion, even when compared with the Esquimaux dog. Its body was long, and its legs short. Its fur was rather shorter and sleeker than that of the other native dogs, and its body was studded with small spots of various colours. ‘There was a good deal of intelligence in its countenance, mixed with wildness. It was extremely active, and could leap to a great height. The Carrier Indians use it in the chase. It was of the size of a large turnspit-dog, and had somewhat of the same form of body; but it had ‘straight legs, and its erect ears gave it a different physiognomy. * SacarD THEODAT. Canada, p. 757. MAMMALIA. 83 (25.] 4. Canis (Vunpes) tacopus. (Linn.) The Arctic Fox. Genus, Canis, Linn. Swub-genus, Vulpes. DEsMaReEsT. Pied foxes. James, Voy.,p. 50. An. 1633. Canis lagopus. Linn. Syst., vol.i.p. 59. Forster, Phil. Trans., 62, p.370. Arcticfox. PENNANT, Arctic Zool., vol.i., p.42. HEARNE, Journey, p. 363. Greenland dog. PENNANT, Hist. Quadr., vol.i. p. 257? a young individual. Canis lagopus, CarTaIN SaBINE, Parry’s First Voy. Suppl. clxxxvii. Mr.SaBine, Franklin’s Jour., p- 658. RicHarpson, Parry’s Second Voy., App. p. 299. Haran, Fauna, p. 92. Tsatis and Arcticfox. Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol.i. p. 268. Stone fox. AuUCTORUM. Terreeanee-arioo. Esquimaux OF MELVILLE-PENINSULA. Terienniak. GREENLANDERS. Wappeeskeeshew-makkeeshew. CREE InDi1ans. Peszi. Russians. DESCRIPTION. The Arctic Fox in its full winter dress is entirely of a pure white colour, or white with a slight tinge of yellow, except at the tip of the tail, where there are a few black hairs intermixed. Before the eyes, and on the lower jaw, the hair is short and sleek; on the forehead and posterior part of the cheeks, it becomes considerably longer, and on the occiput and neck it equals the ears in height, and is intermixed with a soft wool or down. There is so much of the wool on the body, that it gives the fur the character of that of the Polar Hare. The ears are of a rounded form, and are covered with shorter hairs than the neighbouring parts: the shortest hair is on their edges, and it terminates so evenly with that on the back and. front of the ear, as to seem as if it had been trimmed with a pair of scissars, and to render the ear thicker in appearance than it really is*. The long fur on the posterior part of the cheeks is directed backwards, and contributes to give a peculiar cast to the physiognomy, and an apparent great thickness to the neck, which features are common to the foxes, wolves, and native races of the domestic dog in the northern parts of America, and distinguish them from their congeners of the Old World. The vibrisse about the mouth are very strong, and are in some specimens nearly white, in others of a dusky-brown colour. The hair on the body is long, particularly on the sides. It is rather longer on the belly than on the back, but not so close and woolly. It is denser, and coarser on the tail than else- where. The shoulders and thighs are protected by long fur, but the fore-parts of the legs are covered with short hair, the hind-legs having the shortest and smoothest coat. On the posterior surface of the legs the hair is longer. The soles of the feet are covered with very dense woolly hair, of a dirty white colour, giving them that resemblance to the feet of a hare which is the origin of the Linnean name for the species. * This fox has shorter and rounder ears than any variety of the red fox. M 2 84 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. In most specimens, the fur has a bluish-gray colour at its roots on the back, the shoulders, and outside of the thighs, but particularly on the neck and tail. The proportion of the length of the fur so coloured, varies with the individual and the season of the year. In some it is confined to so small a space at the roots as to be scarcely perceptible, and in others it is so great as to tarnish the whiteness of its surface. At almost all times the short hair clothing the posterior surface and margins of the ears is of a dark brownish-gray colour for half its length, so as to give them a bluish or blackish tinge, whenever it is ruffled. No naked callous places exist on the soles of this fox in the winter time. The claws are long, compressed, slightly arched, and have a light horn colour, Summer dress.—In the months of April or May, when the snow begins to disappear, the long white fur falls off, and is replaced by shorter hair, which is more or Jess coloured. A specimen, which was killed at York Factory on Hudson’s Bay, in August, is described by Mr. Sabine as follows. ‘* The head and chin are brown, having some fine white hairs scattered through the far; the ears, externally, are coloured like the head; within they are white: a similar brown colour extends along the back to the tail, and from the back is continued down the outside of all the legs, but on the latter a few white hairs are inter- mixed; the whole under parts, and the insides of the legs are dingy white; the tail is brownish above, becoming whiter at the end, and is entirely white beneath.”—On the approach of winter the fur lengthens, the white hairs increase in number, all the hairs become white at the tips, but retain more or less of the bluish or brownish-gray colour at the roots, until the fur is in prime winter order, when it is of its full length, and almost every where of a pure white colour from the roots to the tips. —The fur on the soles of the feet becomes thinner and shorter in the summer time, and several naked callous places then appear, but they are not so large as those which exist on the soles of the other North American Foxes at the same season of the year. It is necessary to observe that the majority only of the Arctic Foxes acquire the pure white dress even in winter; many have a little duskiness on the nose, and others, probably young individuals, remain more or less coloured on the body all the year. On the other hand, a pure white Arctic Fox is occasionally met with in the middle of summer, and forms the variety named kakkortak by the Greenlanders. Hearne states that the Arctic Foxes, ‘“‘when young, are almost all over of a sooty black; but as the fall advances, the belly, sides, and tail turn to a light ash-colour; the back, legs, some part of the face, and the tip of the tail, change to a lead colour, and when the winter sets in, they become perfectly white. There are few of them which have not a few dark hairs at the tip of the tail, all the winter*.” * Although I am not aware that a comparison between recent specimens of the Arctic Foxes of the New and Old Worlds has been made so as to prove their identity of form, yet their perfect similarity of habits, and in the series of variations in their fur, may lead us to conclude that the species is the same on both continents. The Siberian hunters informed Gmelin ‘‘ that they often found gray and white individuals in the same litter, and that the first have at birth avery deep gray colour, the latter a yellowish tint, the hairs being in both very short. Towards the end of the summer, when the hair begins to increase in length, foxes are often met with, having a brown streak along the back, crossed by a similar one at the shoulders. These individuals, sometimes termed cross fowes, become at length entirely white.’ All the different species of fox seem liable to produce a crucigerous variety. MAMMALIA. 85 DIMENSIONS Of a full-grown specimen. Feet. ‘Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of the head and body 2 1 Distance from the wrist to the end of the 5, tail (vertebrz) 1 0 middle fore-claw A . . 0 3h ,, tail with the fur . I 2 » from the tip of the nose to the Snead! 0 53 anterior angle of the eye 6 0 2k Height of ears anteriorly . 0 2 aa between the anterior angles of the oS ears posteriorly . 0 13 eyes : F F . 0 12 Breadth of the ears near their base . 0 2 35 between the ears ; . 0 Qt Distance from the heel to the tip of the mid- dle hind-claw 0 bE Captain Lyon, during two winters passed on the Melville peninsula, studied with attention the manners of several of these animals, which were taken and kept as pets ; and his account contains so many interesting facts respecting their natural history, which are recorded nowhere else, that I shall make no apology for copying it into this work. ‘‘ In form, the Arctic Fox bears a great resemblance to our European species, although considerably smaller ; and, owing to the great quantity of white woolly hair with which it is clothed, is somewhat like a little shock dog. ‘The brush is full and large, affording an admirable covering for the nose and feet, to which it acts as a muff when the animal sleeps. Although the head is not so pointed as in our English Reynard, yet it has completely the air of cunning which is so observable in all species of foxes. The eyes are bright, piercing, and of a clear hazel. ‘The face of the female was always remarked to be shorter than that of the male, and it has less of cunning and more of mildness in its general expression. The ears are short, and thickly covered with hair, having the appearance of being doubled at the edges, or rather of having been cropped. The cheeks are ornamented by a projecting ruff, which extends from behind the ears quite round the lower part of the face, to which it gives a very pleasing appearance. “« The legs are rather long than otherwise, and shew great strength of muscle. The feet, which are large, are armed with strong claws. When the animal is standing still, the hind-legs are so placed as to give the idea of weakness in the loins, which is certainly not the case, as few creatures can make more powerful leaps. The general weight was about eight pounds, although some were as low as seven, and a few as high as nine pounds and a half when in good case. “The Arctic Fox is an extremely cleanly animal, being very careful not to dirt those places in which he eats or sleeps. No unpleasant smell is to be per- ceived, even in a male, which is a remarkable circumstance. ‘To come unawares on one of these creatures is, in my opinion, impossible ; for even when in an 86 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. apparently sound sleep, they open their eyes at the slightest noise which is made near them, although they pay no attention to sounds when ata short distance. The general time of rest is during the daylight, in which they appear listless and inactive ; but the night no sooner sets in than all their faculties are awakened ; they commence their gambols, and continue in unceasing and rapid motion until the morning. While hunting for food, they are mute, but when in captivity or irritated, they utter a short growl like that of a young puppy. It is a singular fact, that their bark is so undulated as to give an idea that the animal is at a distance, although at the very moment he lies at your feet. Although the rage of a newly-caught fox is quite ungovernable, yet it very rarely happened that on two being put together they quarrelled. A confinement of a few hours often sufficed to quiet these creatures ; and some instances occurred of their being perfectly tame, although timid, from the first moment of their captivity. On the other hand, there were some which, after months of coaxing, never became more tractable. These we supposed were old ones. “‘ Their first impulse on receiving food is to hide it as soon as possible, even though suffering from hunger, and having no fellow-prisoners of whose honesty they are doubtful. In this case snow is of great assistance, as being easily piled over their stores, and then forcibly pressed down by the nose. I frequently observed my dog-fox, when no snow was attainable, gather his chain into his mouth, and in that manner carefully coil it so as to hide the meat. On moving away, satisfied with his operations, he of course had drawn it after him again, and some- times with great patience repeated his labours five or six times, until in a passion, he has been constrained to eat his food without its having been rendered luscious by previous concealment. Snow is the substitute for water to these creatures, and on a large lump being given to them, they break it in pieces with their feet, and roll on it with great delight. When the snow was slightly scattered on the decks, they did not lick it up as dogs are accustomed to do, but by repeatedly pressing with their nose, collected small lumps at its extremity, and then drew it into the mouth with the assistance of the tongue.” In another passage, Captain Lyon, alluding to the above mentioned dog-fox, says, “ He was small and not perfectly white ; but his tameness was so remarkable, that I could not afford to kill him, but confined him on deck in a small hutch, with a scope of chain. The little animal astonished us very much by his extraordinary sagacity: for, during the first day, finding himself much tormented by being drawn out repeatedly by his chain, he at length, whenever he retreated to his hut, took this carefully up MAMMALIA. 87 in his mouth, and drew it so completely after him, that no one who valued his fingers would endeavour to take hold of the end attached to the staple.” Hearne says, that, when taken young, the Arctic fox may be domesticated in some degree, but he never saw one that was fond of being caressed ; and they are always impatient of confinement. Notwithstanding the degree of intelligence which the anecdotes related by Captain Lyon shew them to possess, they are unlike the red fox, in being extremely unsuspicious ; and instances are related of their standing by, while the hunter is preparing the trap, and running headlong into it the moment he retires a few paces. Captain Lyon received fifteen from a single trap in four hours. The voice of the Arctic fox is a kind of yelp, and when a man approaches their breeding places, they put their heads out of their burrows, and bark at him, allowing him to come so near that they may be easily shot. They appear to have the power of decoying other animals within their reach, by imitating their voices. ‘ While tenting, we observed a fox prowling on a hill side, and heard him for several hours afterwards in different places, imitating the cry of a brent goose*.” They feed on eggs, young birds, blubber, and carrion of any kind ; but their principal food seems to be lemmings of different species. The Arctic fox is an inhabitant of the most northern lands hitherto discovered, and in North America their southern limit appears to be about latitude 50°. They are numerous on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, north of Churchill, and exist also in Behring’s Straits ; but the brown variety, mentioned in the following pages, is the more common one in the latter quarter. They breed on the sea coast, and chiefly within the Arctic circle, forming burrows in sandy spots,—not solitary, like the red fox, but in little villages, twenty or thirty burrows being constructed adjoining to each other. We saw one of these villages on Point Turnagain, in latitude 684°. Towards the middle of winter they retire to the southward, evidently in search of food, keep- ing as much as possible on the coast, and going much further to the southward in districts where the coast-line is in the direction of their march. Captain Parry relates that the Arctic foxes, which were previously numerous, began to retire from Melville Peninsula in November, and that by January few remained. Towards the centre of the Continent, in latitude 65°, they are seen only in the winter, and then not in numbers; they are very scarce in latitude 61°, and at Carlton House, in latitude 53°, only two were seen in forty years. On the coast of Hudson’s Bay, however, according to Hearne, they arrive at Churchill, in latitude 59°, about the middle of October, and afterwards receive reinforcements from the northward, until * Lyon’s Private Journal, p. 424. 88 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. their numbers almost exceed credibility. Many are captured there by the hunters, and the greater part of the survivors cross the Churchill River as soon as it is frozen over, and continue their journey along the coast to Nelson and Severn Rivers. In like manner they extend their migrations along the whole Labrador coast to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Most of those which travel far to the southward are destroyed by rapacious animals ; and the few which survive to the spring, breed in their new quarters, instead of returning to the north. The colonies they found are, however, soon extirpated by their numerous enemies. A few breed at Churchill, and some young ones are occasionally seen in the vicinity of York factory. There are from three to five young ones in a litter. The Esquimaux take the Arctic foxes in traps, which are described by Captain — Parry as being “‘ extremely simple and ingenious. They consist of a small circular arched hut built of stones, having a square aperture at the top, but quite close and secure in every other part. This aperture is closed by some blades of whale- bone, which, though in reality only fixed to the stones at one end, appear to form a secure footing, especially when the deception is assisted by a little snow laid on them. The bait is so placed that the animal must come upon this platform to get at it; when the latter, unable to bear the weight, bends downwards, and after pre- cipitating the fox into the trap, which is made too deep to allow of his escape, returns by its elasticity to its former position, so that several may then be caught successively.” They are also taken in the wolf-traps of ice, described in page 65, and all the rocky islands lying off the mouth of the Coppermine River are studded with square traps, built of stone by the Esquimaux, wherein the fox is killed by a flat stone falling upon him when he pulls at the bait. The fur of the Arctic fox is of small value in commerce when compared with that of any variety of the red fox. Its flesh, on the other hand, particularly when young, is edible; whilst that of the red fox is rank and disagreeable. Captain Franklin’s party agreed with Hearne, in comparing the flavour of a young Arctic fox to that of the American hare. Captain Lyon considered it to resemble the flesh of a kid. -—se “7 so. ™. MAMMALIA. 89 Canis LAG. var. 6. FULIGINOSUS. Sooty Fox. Canis Lagopi varietas. Patxas, glives,p.12. An. 1778. Sooty Deg. Pennant, Hist. Quad., vol. i. p. 257. Kernektak. Fasricitus, Fauna Grenl.,p.20. An. 1790. Canis fuliginosus. SuHaw, Zool., vol. i. p. 331. Blue Fox (and Canis fuliginosus.) MacxkrnziE’s Travels in Iceland, p. 337. Le chien brun. DrEsmMareEst, Mamm. in nolis, p. 205. Tree-innceuck-kannortoot (black foxes.) EsQquiMaux. This is evidently a mere variety of the Arctic fox, similar to the black variety of the red fox, although more common. It has the form and stature of the Arctic fox, and may be easily distinguished from the black or silver fox of commerce, by its round ears, and its very inferior fur. It differs from the ordinary summer or winter states of the Arctic fox, in being almost entirely of an uniform blackish- brown colour. DESCRIPTION. One killed on Winter Island, in lat. 66°, on the 16th December, had the longest and darkest fur on the belly, the colour there being black with a slight tinge of brown. The face, from a sprinkling of short white hairs, was hoary, and there were a very few white hairs on the back, not sufficient, however, to vary the colour, unless on close inspection. The whole fur on the body was long, had a considerable lustre, and when blown inside, exhibited a bright ash-grey colour towards its roots. The fur on the soles of the feet was of a grayish- white colour, and as bushy as on the feet of the white variety in the winter time. The claws were of the same size and colour as those of the pure white variety, and differed in form from those of the red fox. This individual had attained the full size of the Arctic fox. On Captain Franklin’s last Expedition, similar specimens were seen in the summer near the mouth of the Mackenzie. A specimen procured by Captain Beechey in Behring’s Straits, differed merely in having longer and finer fur, of a pure chestnut colour, without any admixture of white hairs. The face was yellowish-brown, with a white margin to the upper lip. The rounded ears were covered with silky fur on each side, and with shorter and paler fur on the margins. The fur on the tail was coarser, woolly, curled, and somewhat matted, and of a dull yellowish-brown, altogether very unlike the silky brush of the black variety of Canis fulous. The tip of the tail in this specimen was of the same colour with the rest of it. The anterior surfaces of the legs were covered with yellowish-brown fur, forming a smooth shining coat, and the soles with dense yellowish-white, woolly hair. N 90 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. Otho Fabricius gives a clear account of the sooty variety of the Arctic fox in the following passage :—‘‘ There are two kinds of Arctic fox,” says he: “ one bluish-black, with white wool on the soles of the feet, and occasionally white whiskers, is named by the Greenlanders keknektak ; the other entirely white with the exception of the naked tip of the nose, which is called by the same people hakkortak, They are by no means different species, for they couple together ; and one variety produces young having the colours of the other; nay, I can even bear witness that the bluish individual will become white, and a white one bluish, according to its age.” Pennant considers the Sooty Fox to be a distinct species which is numerous in Iceland ; and Sir George Mackenzie describes it as varying considerably in the shades of its fur, from a light brownish, or bluish-gray, to a colour nearly ap- proaching to black. He quotes the authority of Horrebow for their being brought from Greenland to Iceland occasionally on fields of ice. The Greenland fox, No. 164 of Pennant’s History of Quadrupeds, described as of a brown colour above, white beneath, with feet furred beneath, rounded ears, and as being of very small stature, seems to be nothing more than a young Arctic fox in its common autumn dress. On one occasion during our late coasting voyage round the northern extremity of America, after cooking our supper on a sandy beach, we had retired to repose in the boats, anchored near the shore, when two Sooty Foxes came to the spot where the fire had been made, and carrying off all the scraps of meat that were left there, buried them in the sand above high-water mark. We observed that they hid every piece in a separate place, and that they carried the largest pieces farthest off. A little Scotch terrier dog that accompanied us had precisely the same habit. It attended us closely at our meals; and receiving much more from the men than it could eat, it carried the surplus always to the distance of two or three hundred yards, and hid it carefully, never putting two pieces in the same spot. I have quoted in page 86, Captain Lyon’s observation of the Arctic fox seldom eating its food until it had been adapted to its taste by concealment. ——_— VRE iden Wire Ct IPG SHITE IE, Lz Zs LEZ =— Len We. ly x FULVUS. Th lina ayy 7 oP ai i ii f f Wy) | Ce \) NWA G; WN } NOM WY ok LEAL XZ ~w VULPES ' CANIS = MAMMALIA. 91 [26.] 5. Canis (vutpEs) Futvus. (Desmarest.) The American Fox. European Fox. PENNANT, Arct. Zool., vol. i. p. 45. Red or large Fox. Hurtcuins, MSS. ‘ Large Red Fox of the plains. Lewrsand Crarx, vol. iii. p. 29. Renard de Virginie. Patisot de Brauvois, Bul. Soc: Phil. Canis fulvus. DEesmarest, Mamm., p. 203. Red Fox. Sasine, Franklin’s Journ., p. 656. Makkeeshew. CreEE INDIANS. Pate vr. This animal is very plentiful in the wooded districts of the fur countries, about eight thousand being annually imported into England from thence. It bears a strong resemblance to the Common European Fox, and until De Beauvois pointed out its peculiarities, it was considered to belong to that species. DESCRIPTION. On comparing a fine specimen of the English Fox with an American Red Fox, each were ob= served to have dark markings on the sides of the muzzle, posterior parts of the ears, and fore-part of the legs ; the tails of both have an intermixture of black hairs, and are tipped with white. The Red Fox, however, differs in its long and very fine fur, and in the brilliancy of its colours. Its cheeks are rounder, its nose thicker, shorter, and more truncated. Its eyes are nearer to each other. Its ears shorter, the hair on its legs is a great deal longer, and its feet are much more woolly beneath, the hair extending beyond the claws, which are shorter than those of the European Fox. In short the Red Fox differs from the European one in nearly the same characters that distinguish the gray American wolf from the Pyrenean one—in the breadth and capacity of its feet for running on the snow, the quantity of long hair clothing the back part of the cheeks, which in conjunction with the shorter ears and nose give the head a more compact appearance. The Red Fox has a much finer brush than the European one, and it is altogethera larger animal. Desmarest mentions differences in the form of the sculls of the two species. Mr. Sabine describes a skin of the Red Fox in prime order as having “ a general bright ferruginous colour on the head, back, and sides, less brilliant towards the tail; under the chin white ; the throat and neck a dark gray; and this colour is continued along the first part of the belly in a stripe of less width than on the breast; the under parts, towards the tail, are very pale red; the fronts of the fore-legs and the feet are black, and the fronts of the lower parts of the hind-legs are also black; the tail is very bushy, but less ferruginous than the body, the hairs mostly terminated with black, and more so towards the extremity N 2 92») NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. than near the root, giving the whole a dark appearance; a few of the hairs at the end are lighter, but it is not tipped with white.” The colour of the tip of the tail differs in different specimens. An individual, killed at Great Slave Lake, had its head and shoulders of a bright reddish . orange colour, which towards the rump acquired a gray tint by an intermixture of black and white hairs. On the tail the red hairs were mixed with gray and black ones, the tip was white. The soles of its feet were completely covered with fur. In the summer time the fur of the soles is worn off, and naked callous places appear, but they are not so large as in the English Fox. This specimen is now in the Museum of the Zoological Society, and from it the accompanying etching was made. Its DIMENSIONS ARE, . Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of head and body 6 ° 2 9 | Height at the shoulders ¢ . 1 1 5 head alone ° ‘ 0 8 >> Of ears ° ° ° 0 22 Bs tail (vertebre) 0 2 1 2 Distance from the end of the nose to the > tail with the fur 1 6 anterior angle of the eyes . : 0 3 The Red Fox burrows in the summer, and in the winter takes shelter under a fallen tree. It brings forth four young about the beginning of May. They are covered at birth with a soft downy fur, of a yellowish-gray colour, the orange coloured hair not beginning to appear until they are five or six weeks old. Even the Indian hunters do not know the cubs at an early age from those of the Cross or Silver Foxes, and I therefore cannot now place the reliance I was once induced to do on their report of young cross foxes being found in the burrows of the Red Fox. I procured four cubs, a fortnight old, which several hunters said were cross foxes, but which proved eventually to be the red variety. These little creatures began very early to make burrows in the sandy floor of the house in which I kept. them, and used to hide themselves during the day. ‘They were, however, very tame, came when I called them, and would take food from my hand and carry it | to their different places of concealment, never eating it when overlooked. I enter- | tained hopes of bringing them to England, but they made their escape on the journey to the coast. . The Red Foxes prey much on the smaller animals of the rat family, but they are fond of fish, and reject no kind of animal food that comes in their way. They are taken in steel traps, and also in fall-traps, made of logs, but much nicety is required in setting them, as the animal is very suspicious. Some of the best fox- hunters in the fur countries ascribe their success to the use of assafeetida, castoreum, and other strong smelling substances with which they rub their traps and the small twigs set up in the neighbourhood, alleging that foxes are fond of such perfumes. The Red Fox hunts for its food chiefly in the night, but it is also frequently seen MAMMALIA. 93° in the day-time. In the winter time their tracts are most frequent on the borders of lakes, which they quarter much like a pointer dog. . They turn aside to almost every stump or twig sticking up through the snow, and void their urine on it like a dog. The Red Fox does not possess the wind of its English congener. It runs for about a hundred yards with great swiftness, but its strength is exhausted in the first burst, and it is soon overtaken by.a wolf or a mounted huntsman. Its flesh, is ill tasted, and is eaten only through necessity. CANIS FULVUS, var. 6. DECUSsATUS. American Cross Fox. Renard barré ou Tsinantontonque. SacaARD THEODAT, Canada, p. 745. European Fox, var. 8. Cross Fox. PENNANT, Arctic Zool., vol.i. p. 46. Canis decussatus. GEorFrRoY, Collect.du Mus. SaBin¥, Franklin's Journ., p. 656. Haruan, Fauna, p. 88. Cross Fox. Hupson Bay Company’s Lists. Beloduschki. Russrans. I am inclined to adhere to the opinion of the Indians in considering the Cross Fox of the fur traders to be a mere variety of the Red Fox, as I found on inquiry that the gradations of colour between characteristic specimens of the Cross and Red Fox are so small, that the hunters are often in doubt with respect to the proper denomination of a skin, and I was frequently told ‘‘ This is not a cross fox yet, but it is becoming so.” The Canis crucigera of Gesner, which is considered by Baron Cuvier to be a mere variety of the European Fox, differs from the latter animal in the same way that the American Cross Fox does from the red one, and there is also a crucigerous variety of the Isatis or Arctic Fox. Mr. Hutchins, however, remarks that the Cross Fox does not exceed the size of the European one, and is smaller than the Red Fox. If there really be a difference of size between the red and cross races inhabiting the same districts, they ought, perhaps, to be considered distinct species. The fur of the Cross Fox is valuable, and some years ago it was. worth four or five guineas a skin, whilst that of the Red Fox did not bring more than fifteen shillings. The difference of value seems to depend principally on the colour, for some of the red foxes appear to have as long and as fine fur. 94 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. DESCRIPTION Of a very characteristic Specimen of the Cross Fox, quoted from Mr. Sabine. — ©The front of the head is gray, composed of black and-white hairs, the latter predominating on the forehead ; the ears are covered with soft black fur behind; and with long yellowish hairs within ; the back of the neck and shoulders are pale ferruginous, crossed with dark stripes, one extending from the head to the back, the other passing the first at right angles over the shoulders; the rest of the back is gray, composed of black fur, tipped with white = the sides are pale ferruginous, running into the gray of the back; the chin and all the under parts, as well as the legs, are black, a few of the hairs being tipped with white; the under part of the tail and the parts of the body adjacent are pale yellow, the gray colour of the back extends to the upper part of the tail, at the commencement—the rest of the tail is dark above and lighter beneath, being tipped with white. The character of the fur is thick and long.” The quantity of red fur, and the brightness of its colours, vary in different specimens; and the cruciform markings are scarcely apparent in some specimens, which from the fineness of their fur are acknowledged to be Cross Foxes. Canis FULVUS, Var. y. ARGENTATUS. Black or Silver Fox. Renard noir ou Hahyuha. Sacarp TuEopat, Canada, p. 744. European Fox var. a. Black, PENNANT, Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 46. Renard noir ou Argenté. GEorrroy, Collect. du Museum. Grizzle Fox. Hutcuins, MSS. Renard Argenté. F. Cuvier, Mamm. lith. 5 livr. ; Canis argentatus. Desmarrst, Mammal. p. 203. SaBineE, Franklin's Journey, p. 657, HARLAN. Fauna, p. 88. The Black or Silver Fox. Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol. i. p, 274. Tschernoburi. Russians. This variety is more rare than the Cross Fox, a greater number than four or five being seldom taken in a season at any one post in the fur countries*, though the hunters no sooner find out the haunts of one than they use every art to catch it, because its fur fetches six times the price of any other fur produced in North America. La Hontan speaks of a black fox skin as being in. his time worth its * Foxes of a corresponding colour seem to be equally rare in Europe. ‘‘ The Silver or Black Fox is so rare, that Seldom more than three or four are taken in the course of a year on the Lofoden islands, and I never heard of its having been met with in the other parts of Norway.” —A. DE CaPELL BRooxE, Travels in Norway, p.285. —_— — —" MAMMALIA. 95 weight in gold. Although, from what I observed, I do not think that the Black Fox displays more cunning in avoiding the snare than the red one, yet its rarity, and the eagerness of the hunters to take it, cause them to think it peculiarly shy. “ Tt is to be remarked,”’ says Pennant, ‘that the more desirable the fur is, the more cunning and difficult to be taken is the fox that owns it.” Mr. Hutchins also informs us ‘‘ the blacker the fur the lesser the fox,” but neither is this latter remark consonant with my own observation. Mr. F. Cuvier mentions that the smell of the American Black Fox is: very disagreeable, but differs a little from that of the Common Fox ef Europe. He thinks the identity of the American species with the Black Fox of the north of Europe doubtful. The Black Fox of America inhabits the same districts with the Red Fox, and is never seen far withm the barren grounds. In some instances, however, the Sooty Fox described in page 89 may have been mistaken for it. DESCRIPTION. The Canis argentatus is sometimes found entirely of a shining black colour, with the exception of the end of the tail, which is white. It is more common to observe it with parts of its fur hoary from an intermixture of hairs tipped with white. A very fine specimen preserved in the Hudson’s Bay Museum has the head and back hoary, most of the long hairs on those parts being white from the tip for a considerable way down. The downy fur at the root of the longer hairs has a dark blackish-brown colour. The nose, legs, sides of the neck, and all the under parts, are dusky, approaching to black. The tail is black. Its ears are erect, triangular, but not very acute, and are covered with a soft fur of a brownish- black colour. In some individuals the fur, which in most parts is hoary, has a shining black colour unmixed with white, from the crown of the head to the middle of the back and down the outside of the shoulders, being an approach to the cruciform arrangement. Like the two preceding varieties, the Black and Silver foxes have the soles of their feet thickly covered with wool in the winter, no callous spots being then visible. 96 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. [27.] 3. Canis (vutpes) Virarnranus. (Gmelin.) The Gray Fox. Gray Fox. CatEssy, Carolina, vol. ii. p.78. t.78. KAum, Travels, (Pinkerton’s Coll.) vol. xiii. p. 467. PENNANT, Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 48. Canis virginianus. GMELIN, Syst. vol. i. p. 74. SaBINE, Franklin’s Journey, p. 654. Haran, Fauna, p. 89. Virginian fox. Suaw, Zool., vol. i. p. 325. Canis cinereo-argenteus. Say, Long’s Exped., vol. ii. p. 340. _The Gray Fox (Canis cinereo.argentatus). Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 280. This animal, which is said to be the most common species of fox in the southern parts of the United States, did not come under our notice on the late Expeditions, but it is here introduced to mark its most northern limit. Its skins are sometimes included amongst the Hudson Bay Company’s importations from their most southern Canadian posts. Kalm says that the Gray Foxes are very common in Pennsylvania, and in the southern provinces ; but scarce-in the northern ones, on which account the French call them Virginian foxes. He also says that they are smaller, less destructive, less active, and have a less rank smell than the European foxes. The Gray Fox has been confounded by some writers with the Cross Fox, which it much resembles, though it is smaller in size ; by others with the Kit Fox, which has also gray colours. Dr. Godman informs us that the chase of this animal affords more pleasure to the American sportsmen than that of the Red Fox *, ‘because it does not immediately forsake its haunts and run for miles in one direction, but after various doublings, is generally killed near the place where it first started!” Catesby, on the contrary, says that ‘‘ they give no diversion to the sportsmen, for after a mile’s chase they run up atree.”” The same author informs us that they breed in hollow trees. Langsdorff relates that in California he saw a great number of foxes following the cows, and living upon the most friendly terms with the young calves. * He alludes here, not to the Canis fulvus, but to the C, vulpes vulgaris of this work. MAMMALIA. 97 [28.] 4. Canis (VULPES VULGARIS) VULPES? (Linn.?) The Fox? Canis vulpes. Harian, Fauna, p. 86. Canis fulvus. Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 276. M. Frederick Cuvier and M. Desmarest, who admit and describe the American Red Fox (C. fulvus) as a distinct species, state the Common Fox to be also an inhabitant of North America. It does not exist in the countries north of Canada lying to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, and consequently did not come under our notice on’ the late Expeditions ; but it is admitted into this work, as being most probably an inhabitant of New Caledonia. Several of the voyagers who have visited the Atlantic coast of North America mention two kinds of red fox skins, in possession of the natives; the one having a fine, long, silky fur, of a reddish-yellow colour (C. fulvus?) ; the other of a smaller size, having shorter and coarser fur, and less lively tints of colour (C. vulpes ?). I think it very probable that an investigation into the characters of the American foxes will shew that the reddish Fox of the Atlantic states is a variety of the Canis cinereus, which has been mistaken for the European Fox. Dr. Godman states that these reddish foxes “‘ are numerous in the middle and southern states of the Union, and are every where notorious depredators ‘on the poultry yards.” Kalm says, “the red foxes are very scarce here (New York) ; they are entirely the same with the European sort. Mr. Bartram, and several others, assured me, that, according to the unanimous testimony of the Indians, this kind of fox never was seen in the country before the Europeans settled in it. But of the manner of their coming over I have two different accounts: Mr. Bartram, and several other people, were told by the Indians, that these foxes came into America soon after the arrival of the Europeans, after an extraordinary cold winter, when all the sea to the northward was frozen. But Mr. Evans and some others assured me that the following account was still known by the people. A gentleman of fortune in New England, who had much inclination for hunting, brought over a great number of foxes from-Europe, and let them loose in his territories, that he might be able to indulge his passion for hunting. This, it is said, happened at the very beginning of New England’s being peopled with European inhabitants. These foxes were believed to have so multiplied, that all the red foxes in the country were their ) 98 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. offspring.” Kalm* considers neither of these accounts as satisfactory ; indeed, as to the former, none of the Indian tribes inhabiting New England could possibly have any knowledge of the state of the sea to the north, and to this day the tribes dwelling even twenty degrees of latitude nearer its shores are equally ignorant of it. The Esquimaux alone inhabit the coast, and it is unlikely that any accounts from them could be transmitted through ten or twelve intermediate nations, most of whom have been from time immemorial at war with their neighbours. [29.] 6. Canis (VuLPes) cinerEo-arcentatus. The Kit Fox. Archithinew Fox. Hurcuins, MSS. Prennant, Arct. Zool. Suppl., p. 52. Kit Fox, or small burrowing Fox of the plain. Lrwrs & Cuark, vol. i. p. 400; vol. iii. pp. 29, 282. Canis velox. Say, Long’s Exped., vol. ii. p.339. Harwan, Fauna, p- 91. Canis cinereo-argentatus. Sanine, Franklin’s Journ., p. 658. Le Renard tricolor. F.CuviEer, Hist. Nat. des Mamm. The Swift Fox. Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 282. Kit Fox. Fur TrapEers. Chien de Prairie+. Canap1aNn VOYAGERS, The species which forms the subject of this article burrows in the open plains extending from the Saskatchewan to the Missouri, and, according to Lewis and Clark, also in the plains of the Columbia. Mr. Sabine has referred it to the Canis cinereo-argentatus of Schreber, or the Fulvous-necked Fox of Shaw, and most probably correctly ; but many points with regard to its synonyms require to be cleared up, as authors in their descriptions appear to have confounded it with the gray or Virginian Fox. Schreber himself may have partly produced the error, by terming the animal C. griseus in his text, and C. cinereo-argentatus on the plate. It has long been known to the Hudson’s Bay fur-traders, its skins forming a portion of their annual exports, under the name of Ait fowes. It is, as Mr. Sabine justly remarks, the smallest of the American foxes; but the measurement that he gives of two feet for the length of the head and body, being taken from a hunter’s skin, which is always much stretched, is too great. I was unsuccessful in my endeavours to procure a recent specimen of this interesting little quadruped, * Kaim’s Travels, (Pinkerton’s Tr.) pages 13 and 467. + The name of “‘ Prairie Dog” is bestowed also on the Louisiana marmot, and on other animals, MAMMALIA. 99 although I saw many hunters’ skins. The Saskatchewan river is the northern limit of its range. Its burrows are formed in the open part of the plains, at a distance from the woody country. According to Mr. Say, it excels even the antelope in fleetness ; and Lewis and Clark inform us that it is extremely vigilant, and betakes itself, on the slightest alarm, to its burrows, which are very deep. It seems to be the American representative of the corsac, inhabiting similar districts ; and possibly like the corsac its fur changes its colours with the seasons. DEscRIPTION OF A HUNTER’S SKIN :— The nose is considerably shorter, and the face broader than in other foxes. The upper part of the nose is covered by very short hairs of a pale yellowish, or wood, brown colour, on each side of which there is an oval patch of brownish fur, rendered hoary by many of its hairs being tipped with white. ‘The whiskers are strong, and of a black colour, fading into brown at their tips. The portion of the lip anterior to them is brownish white; and the whole upper lip is margined by a stripe of white hairs about half an inch wide. There is, however, a narrow blackish-brown line between the white and the posterior angle of the mouth, which is prolonged round the margin of the lower lip. The upper part of the head, including the cheeks and orbits, the superior surface of the neck, the back and hips, are covered with fur of a pleasant grizzled colour, produced by an intermixture of hairs tipped with brown, black, and white. On the crown of the head, the yellowish-brown predominates, the white is equally diffused through it, there is no dark central line, and the grizzled colour unites gradually before the eyes with the unmixed fawn colour of the nose. The white hairs prevail immediately round the orbits, and there is much white on the cheeks. On the neck, where the fur lies smooth, the white, with a slight intermixture of black, is the colour of the surface, the yellowish-brown being seen only through the interstices of the longer hairs. Towards the rump less of the brown is seen, and more of the black hairs, but the white tips still predominate. The fur on the parts just enumerated appears, when blown aside, of a deep clove-brown, or brownish-gray colour from the roots for three-fourths of its length upwards ; it is then yellowish-brown, followed by a very narrow ring of black, a larger ring of pure white, and generally a minute black tip. There are also, particularly towards the posterior part of the back, many interspersed hairs con- siderably longer than the others, which are black from the root to the tip. The breadth of the grizzled colours on the neck does not exceed the distance between the ears, but it gradually widens from the shoulders backwards. The sides of the neck, the shoulders and flanks, are of a dull reddish-orange, or very pale tile-red colour. The fur on these parts is longer but not so dense as that on the back, and is bluish-gray one half of its length, and reddish the remainder. On the flanks there are a few intermixed black hairs. The lower jaw is white, with a tinge of blackish-brown on its margins and towards its extremity. The chest exhibits the same reddish-orange colour with the sides ; the throat and belly and inner surfaces of the extremities O02 100 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. are white. The fur on all the under parts is white towards the roots. The outside of the fore-legs and posterior parts of the hind-legs are brownish-orange, the upper surfaces of the feet are white; and the soles are covered, with the exception of some callous spots, with brownish wool. The tail is full of woolly hair, but tapers at the end. The prevailing colour of its upper surface is yellowish-gray, with a considerable intermixture of black, and a few white hairs ; the under surface is brownish-orange, and the whole of the tip is black, The fur of the tail is ash-gray towards its base. Dimensions of a Hunter’s Skin:— Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines, Length of head and body . 22 0 | Distance from the tip of the nose to the ante- 99 tail " c 10 0 rior angle of the eye 5 2 0 9 tail including the fur atits tip 12 6 > betweentheanteriorangles of the eyes 1 2 Length of whiskers ° . 3 a The dimensions of a specimen described by M. F. Cuvier, are— Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines, Length of head and body (English measure) 21 6 Length of tail ° . 14 0 . head . : 5 0 Height of back 5 : 13 0 Mr. Say gives the dimensions of the cranium of his specimen, taken by calipers, as follows :— Inches. Inches. The entire length from the insertion of the superior Between the insertion of the lateral muscles at the incisors to the tip of the occipital ridge is rather junction of the frontal and parietal bones Ss more than a . 435 Greatest breadth of this space on the parietat bones 2% The least distance between the orbital cavities - 35 MAMMALIA. 101 [30.] 1. Ferris Canapensis. (Geoffroy.) Canada Lynx. Genus. Felis. Linn. Loup-cervier. (Anarisqua.) Sacarp THEODAT, Canada, p. 747. An. 1636. Loup-cervier or Lynx. Dosss, Hudson's Bay, p.41. An. 1744. Cat-Lynx. Pennant, Arctic Zool., vol.i. p. 50. Cat or Pishu, Hutcuins, MSS. Lynx or Wild Cat. Hrarne, Journey, p. 366. MackEnzieE, Journey, p. 106, &c. Felis Canadensis. Grorrroy, Ann.du Mus. SaBineE, Franklin’s Journ. p. 659. ZootocicaL MusEum. No. 72. Peeshoo. CreE Inpr1aNns and CANADIAN VOYAGERs. This is the only species of the genus which exists north of the Great Lakes, and eastward of the Rocky Mountains. It is rare on the sea-coast, and does not frequent the Barren Grounds, but it is not uncommon in the woody districts of the interior, since from seven to nine thousand are annually procured by the Hudson’s Bay Company. It is found on the Mackenzie River, as far north as latitude 66°. It is a timid creature, incapable of attacking any of the larger quadrupeds; but well armed for the capture of the American hare, on which it chiefly preys. Its large paws, slender loins, and long, but thick, hind legs, with large buttocks, scarcely relieved by a short thick tail, give it an awkward, clumsy appearance. It makes a poor fight when it is surprised by a hunter in a tree; for, though it spits like a cat, and sets its hair up, it is easily destroyed by a blow on the back with a slender stick ; and it never attacks a man. Its gait is by bounds, straightforward, with the back a little arched, and lighting on all the feet at once. It swims well, and will cross the arm of a lake two miles wide; but it is not swift on land. It breeds once a year, and has two young at a time. The natives eat its flesh, which is white and tender, but rather flavourless, much resembling that of the American hare. , The early French writers on Canada, who ascribed to it the habit of dropping from trees on the backs of deer, and destroying them by tearing their throats and drinking their blood, gave it the name of Loup cervier. The French Canadians now term it indifferently Le Chat, or Le Peeshoo. The mistake of Charlevoix in applying to it the appellation of Carcajou, which is proper to the wolverene, has produced some confusion of synonyms amongst subsequent writers. Pennant con- sidered it as identical with the Lynx of the Old World ; Geoffroy St. Hilaire named 102 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. it as a distinct species; and Temminck has again, under the name of Felis borealis, described the species as the same in both hemispheres. DESCRIPTION. The head is round, the nose obtuse, and the face has much of the form of that of the domestic cat; but the facial line is more convex between the eyes. The ears are erect, triangular, and tipped by an upright, slender tuft of coarse, black hairs; they are placed about their own breadth apart, and on their posterior surface they have a dark mark beneath the tip, which is continued near both margins downwards towards their bases. On the body and extremities the fur is hoary, most of the hairs being tipped with white ; on the crown of the head, and for a broad space down the middle of the back, there is a considerable intermixture of blackish-brown, and on the sides and legs, of pale wood-brown. In some specimens these colours produce an indistinct mottling, but in general there are no defined markings. A rufous. tinge is also occasionally present about the nape of the neck, and on the posterior part of the thigh. The tail is coloured like the back, except the tip, which is black. The fur is close and fine on the back ; longer and paler on the belly. When blown aside, it shews, on the middle of the back, a dark liver-brown colour from the roots to near the tips ; but on the sides, it is, for the greatest part of its length, of a pale yellowish-brown, being merely a little darker near the roots. The legs are thick; the toes very thick and furry, and are armed with very sharp, curved, awl-shaped, white claws, shorter than the fur. There are four toes on each foot, those on the hind feet being rather the largest, but both feet have much spread. DIMENSIONS Of a prepared specimen. Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. Length of the head and body 3 1 Height of the ear without the tuft mea- Height of the back . rie) | 44 sured behind ; 0 2 Length of the tail (rataire)ie : : 0 4 Distance from the tip of fea nose sito the e tail, with the fur 0 4} fore-part of the ear : . - 0 4s », black tuftontheear . 0 1} MAMMALIA. 103 [31.] 2. Ferris rura. (Guldensted?) Bay Lynx? * Bay Lynx. PENNANT, Hist. Quadr.. No.171? Arctic Zool., vol. i., p. 51 ? Felis rufa. GULDENSTED, Act. Petrop., 20. p. 449? Mr. Douglas brought a specimen of a Lynx from the Columbia River, that is reported to have the same habits with the Canada Lynx, which it much resembles in size and form. No variety, however, of the latter inhabiting the fur countries to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, presents the dark colour of the back, and the bright wood-brown on the sides, with the black spots on the belly, and the transverse black marks on the legs, exhibited by this one. The hunters consider it to be quite distinct from the Canada Lynx. Neither does it correspond entirely with the descriptions given by authors of the Bay Lynx, although it much resem- bles that animal in the markings about the face. Mr. Douglas thinks that there are more than one non-descript animal of this genus, which inhabit the countries bordering on the Columbia. The skins procured in that quarter are generally carried to the China market, without passing through the hands of European furriers ; hence, they are not likely to have come under the inspection of M. Temminck, who has so well described the Atlantic species. DESCRIPTION. Size and general aspect, exclusive of colour, that of a small Canada Lynx. The colour of the hind head and of a broad dorsal stripe is blackish-brown, a little grizzled by a con- siderable number of the tips of the hairs being of a pale wood-brown. On these parts the fur is hair-brown at its roots, and blackish-brown for the greater part of its length. On the dorsal aspect of the neck the fur is reddish-brown from the base to near the tips, where the longer hairs are ringed with wood-brown and black ; the colour of the surface is produced by an intimate mixture of the two latter, but, as on the back, there are neither spots nor streaks. The forehead has a hoary brown colour, with dark brownish markings. The eyelashes are black, the upper and under eyelids, most of the whiskers, and part of the upper lip, are white. The fur on the cheeks is yellowish-brown, with white tips, and there is a dark stripe under the eye, another on the back part of the cheek, and a third at the angle of the mouth. The ears are lined interiorly with pale hairs, and are covered posteriorly with blackish-brown fur. The tufts on their tips, if any existed, have fallen off. The sides of the neck and the flanks are pale chestnut, brown, rendered hoary by white tips equably but sparingly diffused. The same colour prevails on the shoulders, and outer aspects of the fore and hind extremities, 104 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. prettily varied by a number of short transverse stripes of blackish-brown ; the insides of the’ extremities are paler, but exhibit the same transverse dark marks. The under jaw is white, except the tip of the chin, which is brownish. The throat is white. The chest is coloured and spotted nearly like the shoulders. The belly is white, tinged anteriorly with brown, and marked throughout with rather large blackish-brown spots. The tail is reddish-brown, with some blackish markings above; and is white underneath. It is shaped like the tail of the Canada Lynx. DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines, Inches. Lines. Length of the head and body pi 33 0 Length of the head, including the curvature x tail (vertebrae) . ° A 0 of the forehead . . . - 6 6 Height of the ear . ‘ A Sui? 0 [32.] 3. Fexis FasciaTa. (Rafinesque.) Banded Lynx. The Tiger cat. Lewis and Ciark, vol. iii. p. 28. Lynx fasciatus. ‘‘ RAFINESQUE, Am. Month, Mag. piace 46.” Desmarest, Mamm.. Harwan, Fauna, p. 100. I possess no other information respecting this animal than what is contained in the following description of it by Lewis and Clark. It seems to bear considerable resemblance to the Canada Lynx, but differs from it, and from the preceding species, in the transverse dorsal stripes. DESCRIPTION. “ The tiger cat inhabits the borders of the plains and the woody country in the neighbour- hood of the Pacific. It is of a size larger than the wild cat of the United States, and much the same in form, agility, and ferocity. The colour of the back, neck, and sides is of a reddish- brown, irregularly variegated with small spots of dark-brown: the tail is about two inches long, and nearly white, except the extremity, which is black. It terminates abruptly, as if it had been amputated. The belly is white, beautifully variegated with small black spots ; the legs are of the same colour with the sides, and the back is marked transversely with black stripes : the ears are black on the outer side, covered with fine, short hair, exceptiat the upper point, which is furnished with a pencil of hair, fine, straight, and black, three- fourths of an inch in length. The hair of this animal is long and. fine, far pense that: of the wild cat of the United States.” i | MAMMALIA. 105 = J55.| 1. Castor riper, AmericaANus. The American Beaver. Genus. Castor. Linn. Castor. SacarD THEODAT, Canada, p. 767. Castor fiber, Linn. * Sysé. Beaver Castor. PENNaNT, Arct. Zool., vol. i. p. 98. Castor ordinaire. DrEsmaRrEst, Mamm. Castor Americanus. F.CuviEr. Castor fiber. Hartan, Fauna, vol. i. p. 122. - The Beaver. Gopman, Wat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 21. Ammisk. CrEeEInp1ans. Ttsoutayé. Hunowns. DESCRIPTION. The Beaver has the form of an oval sack. The greatest girth of its body is just before the hind legs, and it tapers gradually on every side from thence to the obtuse muzzle. The hind legs are situated far forward, and the part of the body that projects behind them tapers pretty suddenly to the setting on of the flat scaly tail. The incisors are smooth and orange-coloured anteriorly, and posteriorly they are narrower and white. The nose is very obtuse both vertically and horizontally. The eye is small, and is situated rather nearer to the ear than to the end of the nose; the pupil is almost closed in a strong light. ‘The ears are short, thick, rounded, and well clothed with short fur; the animal closes the auditory openings by folding them vertically. The fur consists of a dense coat of somewhat waved, shining, smoke-gray down, concealed by a long coarse hair, which lies smooth, and, when in season, has a shining chestnut-brown colour, In summer, the fur, previous to falling off, changes its colour to a pale yellowish-brown, and some of the winter specimens have a very dark hue, approaching to blackish-brown. ‘The tail is tongue-shaped, and is covered with ‘oval, angular scales, which are not tiled, and are smallest along the margin of the tail. They are not hard; some scattered hairs spring from their interstices, and the root of the tail is covered for a short space with finer but shorter hair than that of the back. The tail is flat horizontally... The fore-extremities are small and very short. ‘The toes are well separated, and, with the palms, are very flexible. They are used like hands in conveying food to the mouth, but are so short that the animal is obliged to incline its head towards them. The fore-claws are somewhat compressed, strong, and fitted for digging. The middle one is the largest, the one on each side of it somewhat shorter, and the outermost and inner- most are the two shortest. The three exterior ones wear down, whilst the other two remain sharp. The hind-feet have long, hard, and callous soles, and their long toes are connected by a web, which extends even beyond the roots of the nails. The second toe has two nails, the under one of which is rounded with a cutting edge, and lies nearly at right angles to the upper one;—there is a less perfect double nail on the inner toe. The other toes have simple FE 106 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. nails, which bear a striking resemblance to those of the human hand, but are rather more compressed. When the animal sits erect, it rests on its hind-legs and tail; but when it walks, it puts its fore-feet to the ground, and, then arching its body, brings forward its hind-legs, and trails the tail behind it. The whole hind sole touches the ground as it walks, but only the toes of the fore-feet. When the fore-feet are lifted, the toes are curled together, or the fist is closed, which gives them a peculiar appearance of weakness, like a paralytic hand ; they are spread out when they touch the ground. The motions of the Beaver are slow when it is not pursued. DIMENSIONS Of a full-grown Beaver (Spec. 420, Zool. Mus.), killed at Great Slave Lake. Inches. Lines. Inches, Lines. Length of head and body 6 ¢ . 40 0 | Distance from tip of nose to anterior part a head alone . . 7 3 of the eye : 5 : - 2 10 6 tail, scaly part e . cel 6 - the posterior part of the orbit to anterior part ofthe ear. ° . 2 5 DIMENSIONS Of a recent specimen of what is termed, by the Fur Traders, a three-quarter Beaver. Inches. Inches, Length of head and body ¢ . 2 . 30 Length of fore-feet - 3 . . 3 on tail, scaly part é ° ° fa 10 » of thesole of the hind foot . . 7 Circumference before hindlegs 5 5 30 Greatest breadth of the tail - . . « 53 %) immediately behind fore-legs - 218 The weight of a full-grown Beaver is about twenty-four pounds. I have not had an opportunity of dissecting a Beaver; but I was informed by the hunters, that both males and females are furnished with one pair of little bags, containing castoreum, and also with a second pair of smaller ones betwixt the former and the anus, which are filled with a white fatty matter, of the consistence of butter, and exhaling a strong odour. This latter substance is not an article of trade; but the Indians occasionally eat it, and also mingle a little with their tobacco when they smoke. I did not learn the purpose that this secretion is destined to serve in the economy of the animal; but from the circumstance of small ponds when inha- bited by Beavers being tainted with its peculiar odour, it seems probable that it affords a dressing to the fur of these aquatic animals. The castoreum, in its recent state, has an orange colour, which deepens, as it dries, into bright reddish-brown. During the drying, which is allowed to go on in the shade, a gummy matter exudes through the sack, which the Indians delight in eating. The male and female castoreum is of the same value, ten pairs of bags of either kind being reckoned to an Indian as equal to one beaver-skin. The castoreum is never adulterated in the fur countries. The flesh of the Beaver is much prized by the Indians and Cana- dian Voyagers, especially when it is roasted in the skin, after the hair has been singed off. In some districts it requires all the influence of the Fur Trader to restrain the hunters from sacrificing a considerable quantity of beaver fur every MAMMALIA, 107 year, to secure the enjoyment of this luxury; and Indians of note have generally one or two feasts in a season, wherein a roasted Beaver is the prime dish. Hearne terms it delicious food. It resembles pork in its flavour, but the lean is dark- coloured, the fat oily, and it requires a strong stomach to sustain a full meal of it. The tail, which is considered a great luxury, consists of a grisly kind of-fat, as rich, but not so nauseating, as the fat of the body. The Beaver attains its full size in about three years ; but breeds before that time. According to Indian report, it pairs im February, and after carrying its young about ten weeks, brings forth from four to eight or nine cubs, towards the middle or end of May. Hearne states the usual number of young, produced by the Beaver at a time, to be from two to five, and that he saw six only in two instances, although he had witnessed the capture of some hundreds in a gravid state*. The female has eight teats. In the pairing season the call of the Beaver is a kind of groan; but the voice of the cubs, which are very playful, resembles the ery of an infant. When the Beaver cuts down a tree it gnaws it all round, cutting it however somewhat higher on the one side than the other, by which the direction of its fall is determined. ‘The stump is conical, and of such a height as a Beaver, sitting on his hind quarters, could make. The largest tree I observed cut down by them was about the thickness of a man’s thigh (that is, six or seven inches in diameter;) but Mr. Graham says, that he has seen them cut a tree which was ten inches in diameter. Pennant fixes the southern range of the American Beaver in latitude 30°, in Louisiana, not far from the Gulf of Mexico; whilst Say mentions the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi as their limit, which is about seven degrees further to the northward. In high latitudes they are confined to the wooded districts, there not being even willows enough for their subsistence on the banks of the small lakes and rivulets of the Barren Grounds. Their most northern range is perhaps on the banks of the Mackenzie, which is the largest American river that discharges itself into the Polar Sea, and is also the best wooded, owing to the quantity of alluvial soil deposited on its banks. Beavers occur in that quarter as high as 673° or 68° of latitude, and their range from east to west extends from one side of the continent to the other, with the exception of the Barren districts. They are pretty numerous in the country lying immediately to _ * I was informed by a hunter, that the Indians are accustomed, on breaking up alodge of Beavers, to open the old female as soon as they kill her, for the purpose of ascertaining, by counting the dilatations of the tubular uterus, what number of young may be expected to be found in the washes Hearne also says, ‘‘ On examining the womb of a Beaver, when not with young, there is always found a hardish round knob, for every young one of the last litter.” J2o, 108 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. the northward of Fort Franklin ; and from the swampy and impracticable nature of the country, they are not likely to be soon eradicated from thence. |The Iroquois are the greatest Beaver takers in Canada, and their hunters now allot the beaver districts amongst themselves, and endeavour to preserve these animals from ex- tinction, by trenching the beaver-dams of any one quarter only once in four or five years, and taking care to leave always a pair at least in a dam to breed, Further north the Indians, when they break up a beaver lodge, destroy, as far as they are able, both young and old, and the numbers of Beaver are consequently now very much reduced. Gangs of Iroquois were also introduced into the fur coun- tries to the north some years ago; and by setting traps, which destroyed indiseri- minately Beaver of all sizes, they almost extirpated the species from their hunting grounds. The Hudscn’s Bay Company are, however, endeavouring to remedy this evil, by laying plans to insure an adequate supply of the very useful beaver-fur, although it is not likely that it can ever be so plentiful as it was formerly. In the year 1743, the imports of beaver-skins into the ports of London and Rochelle, amounted to upwards of 150,000; and there is reason to suppose that a consi- derable additional quantity was at that period introduced, illicitly, into Great Britain. In 1827, the importation of beaver-skins into London, from more than four times the extent of fur country than that which was occupied in 1743, did not much exceed 50,000. In some seasons a great mortality occurs amongst the Beavers from some unknown cause, many being found dead in their lodges. Towards the north, the fur of the Beaver is better, and continues in prime order through a greater portion of the year. At Great Slave Lake, in latitude 61°, July, August, and September, are the only months in which the beaver-fur of inferior quality is procured. In commerce, beaver-skins, cut open, stretched to a hoop, and dried in the ordinary manner, are named beaver-parchment, and form by far:the greatest part of the importation. When the beaver-skins have been made into dresses, and worn by the Indians, it is termed Jeaver-cout ; and, though it may have been in use a whole season, it still brings a good price. Inferior sized skins are named beaver-cud. An incisor tooth of a beaver is fixed in a wooden handle by the northern Indians, and used with great dexterity to cut bone. This was the instrument with which that people fashioned the horns of the rein-deer into spear-heads and fish-gigs ; but these bone weapons are now generally replaced by iron, and the beaver tooth has been supplanted by an English file. The best account of the manners of the Beaver, and the most free of extrava- MAMMALIA, “109 gancies, is that given by Hearne; and it agrees so exactly with the information I received from the Indian hunters, that were I to record the latter it would appear to be borrowed almost entirely from that traveller. I therefore prefer giving it in Hearne’s own words. *« The beaver being so plentiful, the attention of my companions was chiefly engaged on them, as they not only furnished delicious food, but their skins proved a valuable acquisition, being a principal article of trade as well as a serviceable one for clothing. The situation of the beaver-houses is various. Where the beavers are numerous, they are found to inhabit lakes, ponds, and rivers, as well as those narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes with which this country abounds ; but the two latter are generally chosen by them when the depth of water and other circumstances are suitable, as they have then the advantage of a current to convey wood and other necessaries to their habitations, and because in general they are more difficult to be taken than those that are built in standing water. They always choose those parts that have such a depth of water as will resist the frost in winter, and prevent it from freezing to the bottom. The beavers that build their houses in small rivers or creeks, im which water is liable to be drained off when the back supplies are dried up by the frost, are wonderfully taught by instinct to provide against that evil, by making a dam quite across the river, at a convenient distance from their houses. The beaver dams differ in shape according to the nature of the place in which they are built. If the water in the river or creek have but little motion, the dam is almost straight ; but when the current is more rapid, it is always made with a con- siderable curve, convex toward the stream. ‘The materials made use of are drift-wood, green willows, birch, and poplars, if they can be got; also, mud and stones intermixed in such a manner as must evidently contribute to the strength of the dam; but there is no other order or method observed in the dams, except that of the work being carried on with a regular sweep, and all the parts being made of equal strength. In places which have been long frequented by beavers undisturbed, their dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice; and as the willow, poplar, and birch generally take root and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of regular planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall, that birds have built their nests among the branches. ‘* The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as their dams, and are always proportioned in size to the number of inhabitants, which seldom exceeds four old, and six or eight young ones; though, by chance, I have seen above 410 NORTHERN ‘ZOOLOGY. double that number. Instead of order or regulation being observed in rearing their houses, they are of much ruder structure than their dams; for, notwith- standing the sagacity of these animals, it has never been observed that they aim at any other convenience in their houses, than to have a dry place to lie on; and there they usually eat their victuals, which they occasionally take out of the water. It frequently happens, that some of the large houses are found to have one or more partitions, if they deserve that appellation ; but it is no more than a part of the main building, left by the sagacity of the beaver to support the roof. On such occasions, it is common for those different apartments, as some are pleased to call them, to have no communication with each other but by water; so that, in fact, they may be called double or treble houses, rather than different apartments of the same house. I have seen a large beaver-house built in a smalk island, that had near a dozen apartments under one roof; and, two or three of these only excepted, none of them had any communication with each other but by water. As there were beavers enough to inhabit each apartment, it is more than probable that each family knew their own, and always entered at their own doors, without any further connection with their neighbours than a friendly intercourse, and to join their united labours in erecting their separate habitations, and building their dams where required. Travellers who assert that the beavers have two doors to their houses, one on the land side and the other next the water, seem to be less acquainted with these animals than others who assign them an elegant suite of apartments. ‘Such a construction would render their houses of no use, either to protect them from their enemies, or guard them against the extreme cold of winter. *‘ So far are the beavers from driving stakes into the ground when building their houses, that they lay most of the wood crosswise, and nearly horizontal, and without any other order than that of leaving a hollow or cavity in the middle; when any unnecessary branches project inward, they cut them off with their — teeth, and throw them in among the rest, to prevent the mud from falling through the roof. It is a mistaken notion, that the wood work is first completed and then plastered; for the whole of their houses as well as their dams are, from the foundation, one mass of mud and wood, mixed with stones, if they can be procured. The mud is always taken from the edge of the bank, or the bottom of the creek or pond, near the door of the house; and though their fore- paws are so small, yet it is held close up between them under their throat, that they carry both mud and stones, while they always drag the wood with their teeth. All their work is executed in the night; and they are so expeditious, MAMMALIA. ° 111 that in the course of one night I have known them to have collected as much mud as amounted to some thousands of their little handfuls. It is a great piece of policy in those animals to cover the outside of their houses every fall with fresh mud, and as late as possible in the autumn, even when the frost becomes pretty severe, as by this means it soon freezes as hard as a stone, and prevents their common enemy, the wolverene, from disturbing them during the winter. And as they are frequently seen to walk over their work, and sometimes to give a flap with their tail, particularly when plunging into the water, this has, without doubt, given rise to the vulgar opinion that they used their tails as a trowel, with which they plaster their houses; whereas that flapping of the tail is no more than a custom which they always preserve, even when they become tame and domestic, and more particularly so when they are startled. “ Their food consists of a large root*, something resembling a cabbage-stalk, which grows at the bottom of the lakes and rivers. They also eat the bark of trees, particularly those of the poplar, birch, and willow; but the ice preventing them from getting to the land in the winter, they have not any barks to feed on in that season, except that of such sticks as they cut down in summer, and throw into the water opposite the doors of their houses; and as they generally eat a great deal, the roots above-mentioned constitute a principal part of their food during the winter. In summer, they vary their diet, by eating various kinds of herbage, and such berries as grow near their haunts during that season. When the ice breaks up in the spring, the beavers always leave their houses, and rove about until a little before the fall of the leaf, when they return again to their old habitations, and lay in their winter-stock of wood. They seldom begin to repair the houses till the frost commences, and never finish the outer coat till the cold is pretty severe, as hath been already mentioned. When they erect a new habitation, they begin felling the wood early in summer, but seldom begin to build until the middle or latter end of August, and never complete it till the cold weather be set in. . ** Persons who attempt to take beaver in winter should be thoroughly acquainted with their manner of life, otherwise they will have endless trouble to effect their purpose, because they have always a number of holes in the banks, which serve them as places of retreat when any injury is offered to their houses ; and in general it is in those holes that they are taken. When the beaver which are situated in a small river or creek are to be taken, the Indians sometimes find he oa * Root of Nuphar luteum.—J. R. 112 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. it necessary to stake the river across, to prevent them from passing ; after which they endeavour to find out all their holes or places of retreat in the banks. This requires much practice and experience to accomplish, and is performed in the following manner. Every man being furnished with an ice-chisel, lashes it to the end of a small staff, about four or five feet long ; he then walks along the edge of the banks, and keeps knocking his chisel against the ice. ‘Those who are acquainted with that kind of work, well know by the sound of the ice when they are opposite to any of the beavers’ holes or vaults. As soon as they suspect any, they cut a hole through the ice big enough to admit an old beaver, and in this manner proceed till they have found out all their places of retreat, or at least as many of them as possible. While the principal men are thus employed, some of the understrappers, and the women, are busy in breaking open the house, which at times is no easy task, for I have frequently known these houses to be five or six feet thick ; and one, in particular, was more than eight feet thick in the crown. When the beavers find that their habitations are invaded, they fly to their holes in the banks for shelter ; and on being perceived by the Indians, which is easily done by attending to the motion of the water, they block up the entrance with stakes of wood, and then haul the beaver out of its hole, either by hand if they can reach it, or with a large hook made for that purpose, which is fastened to the end of along stick. In this kind of hunting, every man has the sole right to all the beaver caught by him in the holes or vaults; and as this is a constant rule, each person takes care to mark such as he discovers by sticking up a branch of a tree by which he may know them. All that are caught in the house are the property of the person who finds it. The beaver is an animal which cannot keep under water long at a time, so that when their houses are broke open, and all their places of retreat discovered, they have but one choice left, as it may be called, either to be taken in their house or their vaults: in general they prefer the latter ; for where there is one beaver caught in the house, many thousands are taken in the vaults in the banks. Sometimes they are caught in nets, and in summer, very frequently, in traps. | “In respect to the beaver dunging in their houses, as some persons assert, it is quite wrong, as they always plunge into water to do it. I am the better enabled to make this assertion, from having kept several of them till they became so domesticated as to answer to their name, and follow those to whom they were accustomed, in the same manner as a dog would do; and they were as much pleased at being fondled as any animal I ever saw. In cold weather they were kept in my own sitting room, where they were the constant companions of the MAMMALIA... 113 Indian women and children, and were so fond of their company, that when the Indians were absent for any considerable time, the Beaver discovered great signs of uneasiness; and on their return, shewed equal marks of pleasure by fondling on them, crawling into their laps, lying on their backs, sitting erect like a squirrel, and behaving like children who see their parents but seldom. In general, during the winter, they lived on the same food as the women did, and were remarkably fond of rice and plum-pudding : they would eat partridges and fresh venison very freely, but I never tried them with fish, though I have heard they will at times prey on them. In fact there are few graminivorous animals that may not be brought to be carnivorous.” : Castor FIBER, var. B, nigra. Black Beaver. Castor fort noir. Sacarp THEODAT, Canada, p. 767. Castor fiber. var.B. Castor noir. Desmarest, Mamm. p. 278. Beaver, entirely black, but not differing in any other respect from those of the ordinary dark brown colour, are of occasional occurrence. I saw one or two which were kept as curiosities. Hearne, in speaking of this variety, says, “ Black Beaver, and that of a beautiful gloss, are not uncommon; perhaps they are more plentiful at Churchill than at any other Factory in the Bay; but itis rare to get more than twelve or fifteen of their skins in the course of one year’s trade.” 114 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY, Castor FIBER, var. C, varia. Spotted Beaver. Castor fiber, var. D. Castor varié. Dresmarest, Mamm. This variety is more rare than the preceding, and never came under my notice. Mr. Say mentions that an Indian had in the course of his life caught three specimens of Beaver with a large white spot on their breasts. Castor FIBER, var. D, arpa. White Beaver. White beaver. Doxns, Hudson’s Bay, p. 40. Castor fiber, var. C. Castor blanc. DEsmMarEstT, Mamm. Castor albus. Brisson, Reg. An. An albino variety of the Beaver is of very rare occurrence. Hearne saw but one in the course of twenty years, and it had many reddish and brown hairs along the ridge of the back,—its sides and belly were of a glossy silvery white. When the Indians find an individual of this kind, they convert the skin into a medicine bag, -and are very unwilling to dispose of it. MAMMALIA. 115 [34.] 1. Finer Zipetuicus. (Cuvier.) The Musquash. Genus Arvicola, Sub-genus Fiber. CuviEr. Rat-musqué. Sacarp TuropatT, Canada, p. 771. Castor Zibethicus. Linn. Sysé., xii. 1. p. 79. L’Ondatra. Burron, tom.x. p. I. Musk-rat. Lawson, Carolina, p. 120. Musk-beaver. PENNANT, Arctic Zool., vol.i. p. 106. Musquash. JossELYN, New England. HEarne, Journey, p. 379. Mus Zibethicus, Lin. GMELIN, vol.i. p. 125. Fiber Zibethicus. Sasine, Franklin’s Journey, p. 659. Haran, Fauna, p. 132, Musk-rat. Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 58. Ondathra. Hurowns. Musquash, watsuss, or wachusk, also peesquaw-tupeyew (the animal that sits on the ice in a round form), CREE INDIANS. DESCRIPTION. The Musquash, or, as it is often named, the Musk-rat, has a thick flattish body, with a short head, indistinct neck, thighs hid in the body, very short legs, and large hind-feet. Its tail is compressed laterally, and has a length nearly equal to that of the body, excluding the head. It is furnished with large yellowish incisors, of which the upper ones are flatly rounded anteriorly, without grooves, and obliquely truncated on the cutting edge. The lower ones are chiselled away posteriorly, so as to come nearly to a point at the extremity, and are some- what longer than the upper ones. The lips, covered with coarse hair, turn inwards. The nose is short, thick, and obtuse, and is covered with short hair. The eyes, small and lateral, ate much hidden by the fur. The ears, low and oblong, are covered with hair like that on the adjoining parts of the head, and are not conspicuous. The fur much resembles that of the beaver, but is shorter; the down is coarser and of much less value, and the long hairs are less strong and shining, and do “not form so close a coat. Although the fur of the Musquash resists the water when the animal is alive, it is easily wetted immediately after death. The fur on the upper parts is somewhat longer than that beneath. Its colour externally is a dark umber-brown on the whole upper part of the head, including the ears, between the shoulders and on the back. The sides, anterior part of the belly, middle of the breast, lateral parts of the neck, and the cheeks, are ofa shining yellowish-brown hue, the tint being deepest on the sides, but fading on the belly and cheeks into light wood-brown, The chin, throat, sides of the chest, and posterior part of the abdomen, are ash-gray, owing to the down being intermixed with few long hairs, and, con- sequently, more visible on those parts. The down on the upper parts exhibits, when blown aside, a dark lead-gray or blackish-gray colour from the roots upwards, the tips alone being tinged with brown ; on the under surface of the animal the down has a lighter bluish-gray colour, and its tips are brownish-gray. Q2 116 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. The fore-extremities are short, only the wrist and fingers being visible beyond the body. They are covered exteriorly by a short, smooth, shining coat of hair, to the roots of the nails. Interiorly some long hairs curve over the wrist, and the palms and inner surfaces of the toes are naked. The nails are short, conical, very slightly curved, and much compressed. The second toe is the longest, the third is very nearly equal to it, the first is a little shorter, and rises higher up, and the thumb is by much the shortest and furthest back of all. The thumb has, however, a conspicuous phalanx, and its claw is as long and is of the same shape with those of the fingers, so that it ought not to be termed merely rudimentary. Nearly as little of the hind-legs appears as of the fore ones, but the feet are very much longer. The metatarsal bones are considerably longer than the toes, and the latter are separated their whole length. The hind-feet are turned obliquely inwards. Exteriorly, they have a shining, smooth, hairy covering, similar to that on the fore-feet, and, like it, of a grayish-brown colour ; but the margins of the soles and toes are furnished with an even row of long, shining, pale grayish-white hairs, curving inwards. The under surface of the feet is naked from the heel to the claws. The inner and outer toes arise nearly opposite to each other, and are about the same length. The remaining three arise from longer metatarsal bones, and their phalanges are nearly equal in length to each other. The two middle ones are united by a web, for about half the length of their first phalanges, and there is also a short web between the third and fourth toes. The claws of all the hind-toes are rather large, conical, slightly arched, thin, whitish, and excavated underneath, The hairs of the hind-feet do not extend much beyond the roots of the nails. From the shortness of its extremities, the Musquash runs badly, and is easily overtaken on land; but it swims and dives well, though it cannot continue long under water. Its tail is compressed, convex on the sides, with its acute edges in a vertical plane. It is covered with a thin, sleek coat of short hairs, which allow a number of small, roundish scales, well separated from each other, to appear through them. Both hairs and scales are of a dusky-brown colour. The acute margins of the tail are covered with a close line of longer hairs, those on the upper edge-being of a dark-brown colour, and those on the under one of a soiled-white. The tail is rather thicker in the middle than at the root, and it tapers gradually from its middle to its extremity, which is not acute. DIMENSIONS. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. Length of head and body : 5 ¢ 14 0 Length of fore-feet to the endofmiddleclaw 1 3 i tail . é 0 - 8 6 | 9 hind feet, from heel to the end of cE. head c x OF : 3 4 the middle claw 6 . 3 20 of whiskers . og : oes) 0 | o> hind claws. . ont the 0 6 As lower incisors 0 9 5 from end of thenosetotheeye , 1 3 There is a considerable variation in the size of individuals, as is common im all the species of the Linnean genus mus. The Musquashes have a strong musky smell, particularly the male ones in the MAMMALIA. 117 spring time; yet their flesh is eaten by the Indians, and when it is fat they prize it for atime, but are said to tire of it soon—it somewhat resembles flabby pork. ~ Tn latitude 55°, the Musquash has three litters in the course of the summer, and, from three to seven young at a litter. They begin to breed before they attain their fall growth. The districts in which they are most abundant are subject to inundations, which, covering all the low grounds, leave no resting places for these animals, and destroy great numbers; in severe winters, also, they are sometimes almost extirpated from certain parts of the country by the freezing up of the swamps, which they inhabit. ‘In such cases, being deprived of their usual food, they are driven by famine to destroy each other. They are likewise subject at uncertain intervals to a great mortality from some unknown cause. Their great fecundity, however, enables them to recover these losses in a very few years, although the deaths are at times so numerous, that a fur-post, where the Musquash is the principal return, is not unfrequently abandoned until they have recruited. _ _ The southern limit of the range of the Musquash may be stated to be some- where about latitude 30°. Bartram informs us, that they exist in the northern parts of Georgia and Florida; and we have ascertained that they extend northwards nearly to the mouth of the Mackenzie, in latitude 69°. Their favourite abodes are small grassy lakes or swamps, or the grassy borders of slow-flowing streams where there is a muddy bottom. They feed chiefly on vegetable matters; and in northern districts principally on the roots and tender shoots of the bulrush and reed-mace, and on the leaves of various carices and aquatic grasses. ‘The sweet- flag (acorus calumus), of whose roots, according to Pennant, they are very fond, does not grow to the northward of Lake Winipeg. In the summer, they frequent rivers, for the purpose it is said of feeding upon the fresh-water mussels (Unio). We often saw small collections of mussel-shells on the banks of the larger rivers, which we were told had been left by them. In the autumn, before the shallow lakes and swamps freeze over, the Musquash builds its house of mud, giving it a conical form, and a