Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1897-09-29
The BEARS OF ALASKA,
There Are Several Varieties Of Them ut
the Service of Sportsnen.

rftEs ssahS VI RlAShS'
There Are Several Varieties of Them ut
the Service of sportsmen.
In Alaska there are several yarie-
lies of the bear, including the polar or
white bear, the brown bear, and the
grizzly bear. The New York Sun has
learned from member of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey,
who: has spent much time in Alaska,
that, in the colder months of the year,
droyes Of polar bears may be seen as
far south rs St. Matthew's Island in
Bering Sea, but that, when the ice
begins to break up there, they strike
out for the furthest north, as far rs the
Arctic Ocean,. Their habits are of
maritime character; they are great
swimmers; "they do not mind swim
of from $50 to 200 miles If they can
find m occasional iceberg to rest on.
They are ferocious, and have no fear
of an enemy. so that the sportsman
who.i is fond of adventures with spice
Of danger in them can find genuine
happiness in hunting the polar bear,
which, however, it must be said, has
habit of killing and devouring such
persons as may seek sport at its ex-
pense."
The brown bear OF Alaska is huge
and shaggy bear, varying in length
from six to twelve feet and weighing
from 800 to 1900 pounds, and is
dangerous adversary, the terror of the
natives. It is an expert fisher, with
good appetite for salmon in its season;
aud when the years run of that dainty
fish is over it takes to the hills, where
small game awaits consumption. The
brown bear has been particularly use
full as road-maker in Alaska, treading
the river banks and plains in a pur-
.poseful manner, SO that the traveller,
by following its footsteps, will find the
easiest routes to the hills and to the
best. fording places. Its habitat is
believed to run as far north as the
Arctic Ocean. AS to its ferocity, the
natives do not possess monopoly
of the stories. Yet there is on authentic
report that some time ago two men
killed seven brown bears in one day
upon the mainland adjacent to the
island of Unga, and exhibited the
skins in proof of their good faith.
This story ought to give encourage
ment to those sportsmen who like
spice of luck as well as OF danger in
their sport.
tits hard to tell whether the grizzly
bear of Alaska is more ferocious than
the polar bear or the brown bear Of
that part of America. But some of the
men who have travelled near Mount
st. Elias say that the. grizzly found
there is unequalled for ferocity, being
6ercer even than the Rocky Mountain
variety. The Indian will never attack
it; he takes to flight at the sight of it.
It has no fear of bullets. 1t is happy
when it lays eyes on human being;
humanity Is but provender for it. The
natives believe that it possesses su-
pernatural powers, and can hypnotize
The man who goes out to kill it. Yet,
| it is related that upon one occasion q
party of two Americans in the Mount
| st. Elias region saw a grizzly ut dis
tance eating fish upon the banks of q
stream and determined to try conclu-
!. sions with it. They got reinforce
ments by which their party was raised
| to the number of six. The six men
raised their rifles and poured volley
| into the body of the enemy, which
! thereupon rushed toward the firing
party. AS the animal approached they
peppered it with their bullets until its
life was extinct. The shinning of it
was the next thing; and it IVES one of
-slomcnboro- of tle party of ff-siz-who-
said: "When the skin was stretched
out it looked to me bigger than the
biggest bullock hide I had ever seen"
That was an adventure for sports
men who have no fear Of danger, but
rather like it. In truth, there is no
part Of the American continent where
an adventurous hunter can get livefier
experiences in bear hunting than those
which are to be found in Alaska. He
can take his choice between the polar
bear, the brown bear, and the biggest
grizzly on earth. He can hover about
Mount st. Elias, take observations
upon the mainland near Unga, or go
stalking among the ice fields which
border the Arctic Ocean, some dis
tance this side of the North Pole.
There are yet lots of chances for sport
in this country between Florida Strait
and Point Barrow.