THE SUN BEAR. 335 



The same officer tells of a remarkable escape. A she-grizzly overtook 

 a sportsman and knocked him senseless with one blow ; she then smelt 

 him carefully, and being satisfied that he was dead, retired. His friends, 

 who had remained at some distance, were just about to proceed to 

 recover his remains, when the body sprang to its feet and made the best 

 possible time to the top of the hill where they were standing. This man 

 was not injured, his clothes only having been torn off; he reported that 

 he came to his senses while the bear was smelling him. 



Dr. Parker Gillmore had a regular duel with a Grizzly. The bear 

 was standing up behind a tree ; as it peeped round the trunk the sports- 

 man fired, but the bullet only sm.ashed a paw. The bear fell, but rose 

 again in an instant, and went for the aggressor ; he fired again, but the 

 result was only a momentary recoil, the gun was sent flying, and he was 

 prostrated. Two or three stabs from his sheath-knife settled the mon- 

 ster. Fortunately, before Gillmore came to close quarters, the bear had 

 one fore-paw smashed, and his lower jaw splintered. 



III.— GENUS HELARCTOS. 



This genus comprises only one species, which is called the " Sun- 

 bear," because it has the very unbearlike habit of basking in the sun. 

 The generic name, Helarctos, is compounded of the Greek words Helios 

 "the sun" and arctos " bear." The Sun-bears are found in the mountains 

 of Nepaul, and in the Malay archipelago. 



The BORNEAN Sun-bear, Helarctos Malayanns (Plate XXIV), is not a 

 large animal, measuring when full grown about four feet and a half; but 

 it is powerful for its size, and is armed with very long claws. The head 

 is thick, and the neck remarkably developed in comparison with the 

 head : the eyes are small and lively, but the ears are large. The fur is 

 very fine and glossy, of a deep black color, with the exception of a 

 crescent-shaped patch of white on the breast, which, in some varieties, 

 is of a fulvous yellow hue. It feeds chiefly on vegetables and honey, 

 and is very destructive to the young cocoa-trees. It is called in Java the 

 " Bruang." 



It is easily tamed. Sir Stamford Raffles, who possessed one of these 

 bears, permitted it to live in the nursery, and never was obliged to chain, 

 chastise, or otherwise punish the good-tempered animal. Being some- 



