Beta Book

The skin was a beauty--dark brown, with a little
silvering of gray over the shoulders, without any rubbed spots, such as
are common on bears only just out of their dens. Some brush was thrown
over the bear, and we rowed back to the sloop, well content. The next
day, which was foggy and rainy, was spent in getting off the skin,
measuring and weighing the animal piecemeal, and carrying all back to
the sloop.
Contrary to expectation, the bear was found to be still covered with a
thin layer of fat, even after his long hibernation. Before weighing, our
men, who had killed some thirty bear among them, said that this one was
two-thirds as large as any they had seen.
The measurements and weights were as follows: Height at shoulder, about
4 ft. Length in straight line from nose to root of tail, 6 ft. 8 in.
Total weight, 625 lbs. Weight of middle piece, 260 lbs. Weight of skull
(skin removed), 20 lbs. Weight of skin, 80 lbs. The right forearm
weighed 50 lbs., and the left 55. This supports the theory that a bear
is left-handed.


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