urpose of rearing their
young.

The wolves are also very abundant, and are of two species. First, the
small wolf or burrowing dog of the prairies, which are found in almost
all the open plains. It is of an intermediate size between the fox and
dog, very delicately formed, fleet and active. The ears are large,
erect, and pointed, the head long and pointed, like that of the fox; the
tail long and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish brown colour,
though much coarser than that of the fox; the eye of a deep sea-green
colour, small and piercing; the talons rather longer than those of the
wolf of the Atlantic states, which animal as far as we can perceive is
not to be found on this side of the river Platte. These wolves usually
associate in bands of ten or twelve, and are rarely if ever seen alone,
not being able singly to attack a deer or antelope. They live and rear
their young in burrows, which they fix near some pass or spot much
frequented by game, and sally out in a body against any animal which
they think they can overpower, but on the slightest alarm retreat to
their burrows making a noise exactly like that of a small dog.

The second species is 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. They do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl, and they
frequent the woods and plains, and skulk along the skirts of the
buffaloe herds, in order to attack the weary or wounded.

Captain Clarke and one of the hunters met this evening the largest brown
bear we have seen. As they fired he did not attempt to attack, but fled
with a most tremendous roar, and such was its extraordinary tenacity of
life, that although he had five balls passed through his lungs and five
other wounds, he swam more than half across the river to a sandbar, and
survived twenty minutes. He weighed between five and six hundred pounds
at least, and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose
to the extremity of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and half round
the breast, three feet eleven inches round the neck, one foot eleven
inches round the middle of the foreleg, and his talons, five on each
foot, were four inches and three eighths in length. It differs from the
common black bear in having its talons much longer and more blunt; its
tail shorter; its hair of a reddish or bay brown, l