mewhat disappointed on finding that we had
brought a couple of living animals instead of the fat venison or buffalo
they had expected. We, however, relieved their minds by telling them
that we had left the meat of a couple of wapiti and a big-horn sheep _en
cache_, and Martin and another man were sent off with the horses to
bring it in. We had now to dispose of our captives. The urson was
tumbled into the cage, which had before served as a prison to the young
puma, while one of smaller dimensions, with iron bars, served as the
present habitation of the sable. I cannot stop to describe the process
by which both creatures were tamed. The next morning Kathleen and Lily
came eagerly to look at them, as they had never seen anything of the
kind before. They were greatly surprised at the size of the urson,
which was nearly four feet long; the body measured upwards of three
feet, and the tail rather less than nine inches. At first they thought
it was a young bear, which, from the long blackish brown hair which
covered it, concealing the quills, it somewhat resembled, it having also
lost a considerable number of the longer quills in its fight with the
sable. It had, however, others on the head and hind-quarters, which
were more visible than the short ones on the rest of its body. The
urson plays a not unimportant part in the destruction of the forests of
North America, as it feeds entirely on the bark of trees. This it
separates from the branches with its sharp teeth, commencing at the
highest and working its way downwards. Having destroyed one tree, it
climbs up to the top of another, and carries on the same process, always
proceeding in a straight line, and I have often, when passing through a
forest, been able to trace its progress by the line of barked trees,
which are sure ultimately to die. It is asserted by some hunters, that
a single urson will consume the bark of a hundred trees in the course of
a year. Our urson, though it became attached to Uncle Denis and would
feed out of his hand, was always an object of awe to the rest of the
animals, who seemed well aware of its power of inflicting punishment on
any of them who might offend it. Even Bruin held it in respect, and
none of them ever attempted to be on too familiar terms.

The sable took even longer to tame than the urson. We used to feed it
partly on vegetable and partly on animal diet. In winter it preferred
the latter. After it had had its meals, i