onght 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
Quourhja, 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 j \ 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 j. 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 thé fur countries after the reduction of
Canada under the British arms, will serve to contrast the manners of the Indiaas
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.
“ In the eourse 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 circumstance
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, I communicated my
discovery; and it was agreed that all the family should go together, in the morning,
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.)
•f Leems’s Danish Lapland. (Idem. vol. i. p. 485.)
$ -Arctic Zoology^ vol. i. p'. 65. Introd., p. cxxv
§ Henry's Tremels, p. 142.
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 i t ; 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 sïzé, which, before she had proceeded many yards,
I shot.
“ The Bear being dead, all my assistants approached, and all, but more particularly
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 hér 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 performed.
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 the 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 l it; 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 benefactor
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