144 THE POLAR BEAR. 



out, seized the woman, threw her down, and fastened on her 

 neck, which he bit, and without offering any further violence, lay 

 upon her, sucking her blood. Resistance being in vain, she must 

 have inevitably perished, had not her husband fortunately discov- 

 ered her situation. By a sudden and well-aimed blow, he obliged 

 the bear to quit his hold and retire to his den, which he did with 

 great reluctance, and not without making a second attempt to 

 reach the woman, who was almost dead with fear and the loss 

 of blood. It is remarkable, that whenever the animal happened 

 to see her afterwards, it growled, and made violent efforts to get 

 to her. His royal highness, upon hearing of the circumstance, 

 immediately ordered the bear to be killed. This fact is related 

 in Mr. Bewick's celebrated History of Quadrupeds, and reflects 

 greater honour on his royal highness' character than could ever 

 be derived from the sanguinary successes of a Genghis Khan, or 

 a Tamerlane. 



If animals of the ferocious kind be cruel and sanguinary, man, 

 however, to the disgrace of his nature, sometimes strives to sur- 

 pass them in ferocity and cruelty. Humanity must shudder at 

 the excessive barbarities too often exercised on the bear, in 

 teaching it to walk upright, and to regulate its motions to the 

 sound of certain instruments. Its eyes are sometimes put out, 

 and an iron ring put through the cartilage of its nose, to lead it 

 by ; with a variety of other kinds of ill treatment. Some are 

 taught to dance, by having their feet placed on hot iron plates, 

 and playing to them while in that uneasy situation. To every 

 feeling mind it is shocking to reflect that such cruelties should 

 be exercised on the brute creation, for the sake of obtaining 

 paltry contributions from an unthinking crowd, which is gratified 

 by such exhibitions. Was it for this purpose that the benevolent 

 Author of Nature has created these animals, and endowed them 

 with life and sensation ? What account shall man render to the 

 Sovereign of the universe, for this wanton and cruel abuse of 

 those creatures which his hands have made ? 



THE POLAR, OR GREAT WHITE BEAR, 



Is a species very different from the common bear, and far ex- 

 ceeds it in size, some of them being above thirteen feet long, 

 with limbs of a prodigious size and strength. Its hair is of a 

 yellowish white, long arid rough : its ears are short and round, 

 and its teeth large. 



-The ferocity and undaunted courage of this animal have been 

 remarked by all who have visited those frozen regions, where it 

 makes its abode. 



The crew of a boat belonging to a ship in the whale fishery, 

 shot at one of these creatures at some distance, and wounded it. 



