ll he has formed a breach of sufficient size to allow him to put it
in. He is utterly regardless of the assaults of the tiny inhabitants of
the comb; and scooping out their honey and young together with his
fore-paws, devours the whole mass. He will sometimes, when pressed by
hunger, break into the settler's barn and carry off sheep, pigs, and
small cattle into the neighbouring woods; and so cunning is he, that it
is not often he is overtaken, or entrapped in the snare laid for his
capture.

The Indians of Nova Scotia call him Mooin, which reminds us of Bruin.
The Indians throughout the country pay great respect to the bear,
having, like the Esquimaux, a high opinion of his intellectual powers,
and believing that he is in some way related to them, and possessed of
an almost human spirit. Still, they do not scruple to kill him; but as
soon as the breath is out of his body, they cut off his head, which they
place ceremoniously within a mat decorated with a variety of ornaments.
They then blow tobacco-smoke into the nostrils, and the chief hunter,
praising his courage, and paying a variety of compliments to his
surviving relatives, expresses regret at having been compelled to
deprive him of life, and his hope that his own conduct has been
altogether satisfactory to Mr Mooin, and worthy of the renown they have
both attained.

The musquaw hibernates, like other bears of northern regions, and is
very particular in selecting a dry cave for his long winter's nap. At
the "fall," he is especially fat, having lived for some time on the
beech-mast, blue-berries, and other fruits which grow in great profusion
in the forest. He then weighs 500 pounds, and even 600 pounds. The
chief part of the fat lies along the back, and on either side, as in the
flitch of the hog. There is no doubt that it is by the absorption of
this fat throughout his winter fast of four months that he is enabled to
exist--at this time evaporation being at a stand-still. Having at
length selected a cavern, or the hollow of a decayed tree, for his lair,
he scrapes out all the dead leaves, till the ground is perfectly clean
and smooth. It must be deep enough to prevent the snow from drifting
into it, and free from any water trickling down from above. He objects
especially to a habitation which has been occupied by the porcupine,
that animal being far from cleanly in its habits. Perhaps also he has
an objection to the quills with which the creature is fu