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Show 166 Lewis and ClaJ•ke' s Expeditio 11 learn that they inhabit at all in the woody country, bor<lei'· ing 00 the coast, as far in the interior as the range of moun-t am· s 'v b·•c b pass the Columbia, between the gt·cat falls and tbc rapids of that rivor. ~. The black bear diffct·s in no respect from those com-mon to the United States. 'rhey cl1iefly inhabit timbered parts of the Rocky mountains, and likewise the ~,orders of the great plainsofthe Columbia. They arc.sometJmcs fou~d · the tract which lies between those plams and the Pact- IO f' } . . h' I l.1 0 ocean. One of ou•..· hunters ·~ aw one o t n s spcmes, w IC 1 was the only one we have discovered since our t·esidonce in fort Clatsop. 3• The deer are of three kinds: the common red deer, the black-tailed fallow deer, and the mule deer. . 1. The common red deer inhabit the rocky mountams, in the neighbourhood of the Chopunnish, am\ ab~ut the Columbia and down the river as low as where the tide water eomm;nccs. They do not appear to differ e~sentially from those of the United States, llcing the same m sha~e, size, ancl a1lpearance. The tail is however diffet•cnt, winch is of an unusual length, far exceeding that of the common deer. Captain Lewis measured one, and found it to be se· venteen inches long. . 2. The black-tailed fallow deer arc peculia.r to thts coast, and arc a distinct species, partaking equally of the qualities of the mule and the common deer. Tb e·i r ca rs are longer, and tbeh· wintet· coat dai.·ker than those .of the common deer. rrhe receptacle of the eye more conspicuous, their legs shorter, their bodies thicker and larger. The tail is of the same length with that of the common deer,_ the hair on the under side white, and on its sides and top of a deep jetty black: the hams resemble in form and colo~l' those of the mule, which it likewise resembles in its gatt. 'rhe black-tailed deer never runs at full speed, but bountls with every foot t'rom the ground, at the same t•. me, like tlu~ mule llcer. Jlc sometimes inhabits the woodlands, but more Up the Missow·i. 1i 7 ufteu tbe prairies and open grounds. It may be generally !laid, that he is of a size larger than the common deer, and less than the mule deer. The flesh is seldom fat, and in flavour is far inferior to any other of the species. s. The mule deer inhabit both the seacoast and the plains of the Missouri, and likewise the borders of tbe Kooskooskee t•ivcr, in the neighbourhoml of the Rocky mountains. It is not known whether they exist in the interior of the great plains of the Columbia, or on the lower borders, near the mountains which pass the river above the great falls. The properties of this animal have already been no ticed. t,. 1,he elk is of the same species with that which inha bits much the greatest part of North America. 'rhey are common to every part of this country, as well the timbct·ed lands as tltc plains, but arc much more abundant in the former than in the latter. In t he month of March we discovered several which had not cast theit• horns, and othcr·s where the new horns had grown to the length of six inches. 'rhc lattel' were in much the best order, and from hence w draw the inference that the leanest elk retain their horns thE' longest. !J. 1'hc wolf is either the large bl'own wolf, or the wolf ufthc plains, of which last there are two kinds, the large anri the small. The large brown wolf inhabits the woody com1, tries on the borders of the Pacific, and the mountains which pass the Columbia river, between the gt•eat falls and rapids, and reseanbles in all points those of the United States. The large and small wolves of the plains, prhlCiJ•ally iullabit the open couutr·y and the woodlands on thejl' border s. They I'cscmble, both in appearance and habit, those of thr. Missouri plains. 'rhey at·e by no means abundaut in the plaini of the Columbia, as thev meet there but Ye t·y l itt le game fox· their subsistence. • i 6. 'rhe tiger-cat inhabits the borders of the plains, a~)(l the woody country in the neig'bboul'hood of the Pacific. |
