After resting some days in the old capital of Quito, our travellers
proceeded to the small port of Barbacoas, on the west coast of Equador;
and thence took passage for Panama. Crossing the famous isthmus to
Porto Bello, they shipped again for New Orleans, on the Mississippi. Of
course, their next aim was to procure the North American bears--
including the Polar, which is equally an inhabitant of northern Asia,
but which, by the conditions of their route, would be more conveniently
reached on the continent of North America. Alexis knew that the black
bear (_ursus americanus_) might be met with anywhere on that continent
from the shores of Hudson's Bay to the isthmus of Panama, and from the
seaboard of the Atlantic to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. No other
has so wide a range as this species--with the exception, perhaps, of the
brown bear of Europe--which, as we have said, is also an Asiatic animal.
Throughout the whole extent of country above defined, the black bear
may be encountered, not specially confining himself to mountain-ranges.
True, in the more settled districts he has been driven to these--as
affording him a refuge from the hunter; but in his normal condition he
is by no means a mountain-dwelling animal. On the contrary, he affects
equally the low-wooded bottoms of ravines, and is as much at home in a
climate of tropical or sub-tropical character, as in the cold forests of
the Canadas.
Mr Spencer Baird--the naturalist intrusted by the American Government
to describe the _fauna_ of their territory, and furnished for his text
with one of the most splendid collections ever made--in speaking of the
genus _ursus_, makes the following remarks:--
"The species of bears are not numerous, nor are they to be found except
in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. North America
possesses more species than any other part of the world, having at least
four, and perhaps five."
With the exception of the very idle assertion that "the species of bears
are not numerous," every idea put forth in the above categorical
declaration is the very reverse of what is true.
Is the polar bear found only in the temperate regions of the northern
hemisphere? Is the _ursus arctos_ of Europe confined to these limits?
Are the bears of South America?--the sloth bear of India and Ceylon?--
the bruang of Borneo?--and his near congener, the bruang of Java and
Sumatra? Why, these last are actually dwellers among palm-trees--as the
cocoa-planters know to their cost! Even Mr Baird's own American black
bear is not so "temperate" in his habits; but loves the half-tropical
climate of Florida and Texas quite as much as the cold declivities of
the Alleghanies.
And how does North America possess more species than any other part of
the world? Even admitting the doubtful fifth, on the continent of Asia
there are six species at the very least; and, if we are allowed to
include the Oriental islands, we make eight Asiatic. There are three
species in the Himalaya mountains alone--unquestionably distinct,
dwelling in separate zones of altitude, but with the territory of all
three visible at a single _coup d'oeil_.
Mr Baird is a naturalist of great celebrity in America. He is a
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution: he should make better use of
the books which its fine library can afford him.
The United States' Government is extremely unfortunate in the selection
of its scientific _employes_--more especially in the departments of
natural history. Perhaps the most liberal appropriation ever made for
ethnological purposes--that for collecting a complete account of the
North American Indians--has been spent without purpose, the "job" having
fallen into the hands of a "placeman," or "old hunker," as the Americans
term it--a man neither learned nor intellectual. With the exception of
the statistics furnished by Indian agents, the voluminous work of
Schoolcraft is absolutely worthless; and students of ethnology cannot
contemplate such a misappropriation without feelings of regret.
Fortunately, the American aboriginal had already found a true portrayer
and historian. Private enterprise, as is not unfrequently the case, has
outstripped Government patronage in the performance of its task. In the
unpretending volumes of George Catlin we find the most complete
ethnological monograph ever given to the world; but just for that
reason, Catlin, not Schoolcraft, should have been chosen for the "job."
Knowing the range of the black bear to be thus grandly extended, our
young hunters had a choice of places in which to look for one; but, as
there is no place where these animals are more common than in Louisiana
itself, they concluded that they could not do better than there choose
their hunting-ground. In the great forests, which still cover a large
portion of Louisiana, and especially upon the banks of the sluggish
_bayous_, where the marshy soil and the huge cypress trees, festooned
with Spanish moss, bid defiance to all attempts at cultivation, the
black bear still roams at will. There he is found in sufficient numbers
to ensure the procuring of a specimen without much difficulty.
The hunters of these parts have various modes of capturing him. The
log-trap is a common plan; but the planters enjoy the sport of running
him down with dogs; or rather should it be termed running him up; since
the chase usually ends by Bruin taking to a tree, and thus unconsciously
putting himself within reach of the unerring rifle.
It was by this means that our young hunters determined to try their
luck; and they had no difficulty in procuring the necessary adjuncts to
ensure success. The great Czar, powerful everywhere, was not without
his agent at New Orleans. From him a letter of introduction was
obtained to a planter living on one of the interior _bayous_; and our
heroes, having repaired thither, were at once set in train for the
sport--the planter placing himself, his house, his hounds, and his
horses at their disposal.