Bruin Part 21

Quick as their legs could carry them they made for the canoe; and one after the other leaped into it. Without even waiting for them to seat themselves, the two voyageurs pushed off from the bank, suddenly shooting the craft out into the middle of the stream.

But this did not stay the pursuit of the infuriated bear, nor even delay him for a moment.

On reaching the bank, he did not make halt; but, launching out, sprang down with a plunge upon the water. Then, stretching his body at full length, he swam direct after the canoe.

The craft had been turned head down the stream; and, what with the help of the current and the impulse of the oars, it swept onward with arrow-like rapidity. But for all that it soon became apparent that the bear was gaining upon it--his broad paws enabling him to swim with the velocity of a fish--while every now and then he rose above the surface, and bounded forward to a distance of several feet through the air!

The voyageurs plied their paddles with all their skill and energy; there was the dread of death to stimulate them to the utmost exertion of their strength. They knew well, that, if the bear should succeed in coming up with the canoe, he would either mount into it, and drive all of them into the water; or, what was more probable, he would upset the craft, and spill the whole party out of it. In either case, there would be the danger of coming in contact with his claws; and that, they knew, was the danger of death itself.

The hunters were all three busy reloading their guns; and getting ready to fire before the enemy should be up to them.

They were not in time, however. With the motion of the boat, and the constrained att.i.tudes in which it placed them, the loading was a slow process; and, before any of the three had a bullet down, the bear was close astern. Only Ivan had a barrel loaded; and this, unfortunately, was with small shot, which he had been keeping for waterfowl. He fired it, nevertheless, right into the teeth of the pursuer; but, instead of stopping him, it only increased his rage, and roused him to make still greater efforts to overtake the canoe.

Pouchskin, in despair, threw down his gun, and seized upon an axe, that by good luck had been brought in the boat. With this firmly grasped in his hands, and kneeling in the stern, he waited the approach of the infuriated swimmer.

The bear had got close up to the boat--in fact was within the length of his own body of touching it. Believing himself now near enough, he made one of his prodigious bounds, and launched himself forward. His sharp claws rattled against the birch-bark, tearing a large flake from the craft. Had this not given way, his hold would have been complete; and the boat would, in all likelihood, have been dragged, stern foremost, under water. But the failure of his clutch brought the head of the monster once more on a level with the surface; and before he could raise it to make a second spring, the great wedge of steel descended upon his crown, and went crashing through his skull.

Almost in the same instant, he was seen to turn over in the water; his limbs moved only with a spasmodic action; he gave a feeble kick or two with his long hind legs; and then his carca.s.s floated along the surface, like a ma.s.s of white foam.

It was soon secured, and drawn out upon the bank--for the purpose of being stripped of its snow-white robe.

Our young hunters would have been contented to have left the others alone--neither the female nor her cubs being required by them. But the voyageurs--who were desirous of obtaining the skins of all three on their own account--proposed returning to effect their destruction; and in this proposal they were backed by Pouchskin, who had a natural antipathy to all bears.

It ended in the killing of the dam, and the capturing of her cubs alive; for, enc.u.mbered as the old she was with her offspring, she was soon overtaken, and fell an easy victim to the volley of bullets that were poured into her from all sides at once.

With the skins of the old bears, and the cubs tied in the bottom of the canoe, our hunters started back down stream; but they had scarce parted from the place, before the ravenous wolves returned--not only to devour the carcases of the bears, but also those of their own comrades that had fallen in the encounter!

CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

THE BARREN GROUNDS.

The "Barren Ground bear" was next to be sought for; but to reach the haunts of this animal, a long and toilsome journey must be made. That tract of the Hudson's Bay territory known as the "Barren Grounds,"

extends from the sh.o.r.es of the Arctic Sea as far south as the lat.i.tude of the Churchill river; bounded eastward by Hudson's Bay itself, and westward by a chain of lakes, of which the Great Slave and Athapescow are the princ.i.p.al.

This immense territory is almost unexplored to the present hour. Even the Hudson's Bay trappers have a very imperfect knowledge of it. It has been crossed in one or two places, and skirted by exploring parties, but it is still almost a _terra ignota_, except to the four or five tribes of Indians who dwell around its borders, and the Esquimaux, who venture a little way into it along the coast of the Arctic Sea.

Before proceeding to hunt the Barren Ground bear, let us say a word about his species. By writers, both old and modern, he has been variously cla.s.sed. Even the ablest naturalist who has written about him is puzzled as to his species. We speak of Sir John Richardson, the companion of the lamented Franklin, and himself one of the great men of the earth. Sir John first regarded this bear, though very doubtfully, as a variety of the _ursus america.n.u.s_, or American black bear. Later observations influenced him to change this opinion; and again with modest doubtfulness--characteristic of the man--he suggests his being a variety of the _ursus arctos_.

We shall make bold to affirm that he is a variety of neither; but a distinct species of bear.

We shall give our reasons--and first, as to his distinctness from the _ursus america.n.u.s_. He is not like the latter, either in colour, shape of body, bulk, profile, physiognomy, length of feet or tail. In all these respects he bears a greater resemblance to the _ursus arctos_, or even to his nearer neighbour, the grizzly (_ursus ferox_). He differs from both these, however, in other points--as will presently be seen.

Again, he is of a fiercer disposition than the black bear, and more dangerous to the hunter--almost as much so as the grizzly, and quite as much as the brown. Moreover, he dwells in a country in which the black bear could not make his home. To the existence of the latter, the forest is essential; and he is never found far out of it. It is not the higher lat.i.tude that keeps him out of the Barren Grounds, but the absence of timber. This is proved by the fact of his being found quits as far northward as any part of the Barren Grounds, but where the limestone formation favours the growth of trees; whereas, among the primitive rocks to the north of Nelson river, the black bear does not exist--the very region that appears most favourable to the existence of the Barren Ground species--who cares not for trees, and cannot climb them.

Still another material difference may be pointed out. The black bear, in his normal state, is altogether frugivorous--a true vegetable feeder.

The other is carnivorous and piscivorous--at one season killing and eating marmots and mice, at another frequenting the sea coast and subsisting upon fish. In a word, the two bears are as unlike as may be--they are distinct species.

To compare the Barren Ground bear with the _ursus arctos_. The former is certainly much more like this species, than he is to the _ursus america.n.u.s_; but again we _encounter_ notable points of difference; and were it not for a certain resemblance in colour, it is possible the two kinds would never have been brought into comparison. It is easy, however, to prove them also distinct species--by simply observing that their habits are altogether unlike. The _ursus arctos_ is a _tree-climbing wood bear_: the Barren Ground species is not. The former prefers a vegetable diet--the latter likes better fish, flesh, and insects--though he will also fill his stomach with a farrago of vegetable matters.

But to say nothing of the very different habits of the two animals, there is a yellowish tinge over the fur of the American species, that is not observed in the brown bears of European countries--except, perhaps, in those of the Pyrenees--and at certain seasons this tinge turns so pale, as to give a whitish appearance to the animal: hence, by the Indians, they are often termed "white bears."

It is, besides, altogether improbable, that the brown bear of Europe should turn up in the "Barren Grounds" of the Hudson's Bay territory--an isolated, treeless tract--quite unlike his habitat in the Old World; and to which no line of migration could be traced with much probability. We might suppose such a migration through Siberia and Russian America; and certainly there is some probability in this view: for although it has been hitherto stated that the Barren Ground bear is only found within the limits of the peculiar district so called, it is very certain that his range extends beyond these boundaries. The brown bear of Russian America and the Aleutian Islands appears to be identical with this species; and there is a suspicion, that the brown species of Kamschatka is no other than the Barren Ground bear of the Hudson's Bay. The fishing habits of the former go some ways towards an identification of the two species--at the same time separating both from the _ursus arctos_ of Scandinavia.

It needs hardly to be argued, that the Barren Ground bear is quite a distinct animal from the grizzly though writers have often confounded them. They are different in size and colour. Though the grizzly is sometimes brown, it is always with a mixture of white tipped hairs; but the most essential distinction is to be found in the greater ferocity of the latter, and his far longer and more curving claws. Many other points might be mentioned--showing them to be animals of two separate species--besides, their range is altogether distinct.

The Barren Ground bear, then, is not the _ursus arctos, america.n.u.s_, or _ferox_. What then? Has he received no specific name from the naturalists? Not yet. Alexis, however, bestowed one upon him. He named him after the man who has given the clearest account of his country and his habits; and whom Alexis deemed most worthy of the honour. In his journal we find the record. There it is written, that the Barren Ground bear is the _ursus Richardsonii_.

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.

BRUIN TAKING A BATH.

To seek the haunts of this new species of bear, I have said that our hunters would have a long journey to make--even so far as the Great Slave Lake--for although the Barren Grounds extend many degrees to the south of this water, the _ursus Richardsonii_; rarely wanders to a lower lat.i.tude. Upon the sh.o.r.es of the Slave Lake, however, they would be certain to encounter him; and thither they repaired.

They were fortunate in the time of the year. The annual "brigade" of boats belonging to the Great Fur Company was just setting out from York Factory, for Norway House on Lake Winnipeg; and thence a division of it would proceed to the posts still further northward--on Lake Athapescow and the waters of the Mackenzie River--pa.s.sing through the Slave Lake itself. Their object, of course, in their annual journey is to distribute at the fur stations, the goods, brought from England by the Company's ships, and in return bring back the peltries collected throughout the winter.

With the brigade, then, went our hunters; and after enduring, in common with the others, the hardships and perils incidental to such a long inland voyage, they at length found themselves at the point of their destination--Fort Resolution, on the Great Slave Lake, near the mouth of the river bearing the same appellation. The canoe of an Indian fisherman--of which there are many dwelling around the sh.o.r.es of this great inland sea--was soon pressed into service; and with the fisherman (who of course was a hunter also) for their guide and companion, they could make convenient excursions along the sh.o.r.es of the lake, land whenever they pleased, and search for Bruin in the localities where he was most likely to be encountered. In this they were a.s.sisted by their hired guide; who was not long in putting them upon the trail of a bear.

In fact, in the very first excursion which they made, one of the true breed was discovered and captured.

The circ.u.mstances attending his capture were of no very particular interest; but as they ill.u.s.trate one of the habits of this species, we shall give them as recorded in the journal of Alexis.

They were paddling gently along the sh.o.r.e--through water that was as calm as a pond--when, at a great distance ahead of them, the Indian observed a slight rippling upon the surface, and pointed it out. It was not caused by the wind; for there was not a breath stirring at the time; and it was not like the whitish curl which a breeze casts upon the surface of water. It resembled more a series of little wavelets, such as proceed from a stone plunged into a deep pool, or from a disturbance of the water caused by the movements of some animal. The Indian said that it was a bear: though there was no bear, nor any living thing in sight!

As the canoe moved nearer, our hunters perceived that there was an indentation on the sh.o.r.e--a little creek or bay out of which the ripples were proceeding. The guide knew that there was such a bay; and believed that the bear would be found somewhere within it, swimming about in the water.

The hunters did not stay to inquire the reason why Bruin should be thus bathing himself? There was no time: for just at that instant the Indian beached his canoe; and desired them all to disembark and follow such further instructions as he might give them. Without hesitation they accepted his invitation; resolved to act according to his counsel.

The Indian, after making his boat fast, took the route inland, followed by the other three. After going some three or four hundred yards, he turned to the left, and conducted the party around the sh.o.r.e of the bay--which trended in a semicircular or horse-shoe shape. He did not take all of them around; but only one, whom he stationed on the opposite side. This was Pouchskin. Ivan he had already placed on the nearer side, and Alexis at the bottom--so that they were thus set at the three angles of a triangle, nearly equilateral.

On a.s.signing to each of them his station, the Indian further instructed them to creep forward among the bushes--which still separated them from the water--and to do so without making any noise, till they should hear a "whoop" from himself. This would be the signal for them to show themselves around the edge of the bay--in the water of which the Indian hunter was confident a bear was bathing himself. He himself returned to his canoe.

Agreeably to his instructions, the three hunters crawled forward--each on his own line of approach, and all observing the greatest caution and silence. As soon as their eyes rested upon the water, they perceived the correctness of the Indian's conjecture. A bear there was, sure enough!

They saw only his head; but this was sufficient for Bruin's identification: since no similar cranium could have been encountered in such a place.

As the Indian had apprised them, the bear was swimming about in the bay; but for what purpose it was at first difficult to make out. To their astonishment, he swam with his mouth wide open--so that they could see the interior of his great encarmined palate, while his long tongue flapped out at intervals, and appeared to sweep the surface of the water. At intervals, too, he was seen to close his mouth--the huge jaws coming together with a "clap-clap," the noise of which could be heard echoing far over the lake!

He did not go long in one course; but ever and anon kept turning himself, and quartering the bay in every direction.

It was a long time before the spectators could find any explanation of these odd manoeuvres on the part of the bear. They might have fancied he was merely taking a cool bath to refresh himself: for the day was exceedingly hot, and the air was filled with mosquitoes--as our hunters had already learnt to their great discomfort. It might have been to get rid of these tormentors that Bruin had submerged his body in the water; and so Pouchskin concluded, and also Ivan--though both were puzzled by the odd behaviour of the bear, in swimming open-mouthed, and at intervals snapping his jaws as he did. Alexis, however, was a better reasoner; and soon discovered the why and the wherefore of these mysterious demonstrations. Alexis saw that the surface of the water was thickly coated with something; and, on scrutinising it more closely, he made out this something to be a swarm of insects. There appeared to be more than one species of them--two indeed there were--both about the size of ordinary gadflies; but altogether different from each other in colour and habits. One was a sort of water-beetle that swam near the surface; while the other was a winged insect that occasionally rose into the air, but more generally crawled along the water--making short runs from place to place, then stopping a moment, and then darting on again.

The whole surface of the bay--and even out for some distance into the lake--fairly swarmed with these creatures; and it was in pursuit of them that Bruin was whisking his tongue so rapidly about, and bringing his jaws together in such sonorous concussion. The animal was simply indulging in a favourite meal--which in summer is furnished him not only on the sh.o.r.es of the Great Slave Lake, but most of the smaller lakes throughout the Barren Grounds.

Alexis had scarce finished making the observation, when a loud "whoop"

was heard from the direction of the lake; and almost at the same instant the canoe of the Indian was seen shooting through the water, right for the entrance of the bay!

Obedient to the signal, the three hunters rushed out from their cover, and ran forward upon the beech--each holding his gun in readiness to fire. The bear, seeing himself thus suddenly and unexpectedly surrounded, at once gave over his fly-trapping; but, irresolute in which direction to retreat, he turned round and round in the water, first swimming a bit one way and then another. At length, rearing himself high above the surface, and showing his sharp teeth, he uttered a deep growl of rage, and dashed recklessly towards the sh.o.r.e.