20o 



THE BEARS. 



obey me till he had got a good cudgelling, 

 which banished him to his den for some days 

 But he was perhaps the most intelligent 

 animal that we had on board, including both 

 dogs and foxes. On the deck there stood a 

 cask filled with salt meat. The other animals 

 sniffed all round it, and endeavoured unsuc- 

 cessfully to gnaw through the wood. The 



bear, after attentively examining the cask for 

 a whole day, at last found the bung, and this 

 he managed to pull out with his teeth and 

 paws so that he could introduce his long 

 snout into the hole and lick the contents. 

 The cook complained of him bitterly, because 

 he was far cleverer at plundering his stores 

 than foxes and dogs. The young bear may 



Fig. 105. The Black Bear (Ursus nmcricanus). 



be uncouth, clumsy, and obstinate but awk- 

 wardness and clumsiness do not exclude 

 intelligence. 



The bear, like other carnivores, becomes 

 sullen and even malicious in old age. But 

 even then it is principally when his rest is 

 disturbed that he makes himself disagreeable. 

 He will spend whole hours sucking at his 

 paws and gently growling the while. My 

 bear had the habit of sucking in that way at 

 the end of my dressing-gown or the bottoms 

 of my trousers when I sat studying on deck. 

 If one disturbs the bear in this peaceful 

 occupation he becomes furious ; but one who 

 passes quietly by without disturbing him he 

 allows to go on his way unmolested. 



And yet not always. In summer, when 

 he is principally a vegetarian, feeding chiefly 



on berries and other fruits, roots, honey, and 

 ants, even the old bear is a good-humoured 

 fellow; in winter he becomes a flesh-eater, 

 and when hunger torments him he spares 

 nothing. He then attacks man as well as 

 the largest animals, pursues horses and oxen 

 running, breaks into dwellings and stables, 

 slaughters every living thing, and fills the 

 neighbourhood with terror by his growls. 



The chase of the brown bear is always 

 dangerous, but is a favourite sport among 

 the inhabitants of the North. The bear 

 knows the danger that threatens him, and 

 takes to flight. When assailed by the dogs 

 he at last stands at bay. With one stroke of 

 his powerful paw he slits open the belly of a 

 dog or breaks its back-bone. I f only wounded 

 by a hunter he dashes upon his antagonist, 



