ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 23 



land, floating on the Arctic ice, from which he swims to the 

 shore without difficulty. In the walrus he meets with a 

 fierce enemy ; the dreadful combats that occur, at times, 

 between them, generally terminating in the defeat of the 

 bear. Probably in consequence of the extreme cold which 

 prevails in the high latitudes it frequents, and the absence of 

 vegetation in its haunts, its food is almost entirely of an 

 animal nature, consisting of seals, fish, and the carcasses of 

 whales, though it is able to live exclusively on vegetable food, 

 as has been proved by experiments. 



Its fore-paws are frequently rubbed bare, which is thus 

 accounted for : to surprise a seal, a bear crouches down 

 with his fore paws doubled under him, and pushes himself 

 forward with his hind legs, till within a few yards, when he 

 springs on his victim, either in the water or on the ice. When 

 engaged in the pursuit of seals as they are lying on a rock or 

 ice-raft, it employs a very cunning mode of approach. Mark- 

 ing the position in which its intended prey lies, it dives, swim- 

 ming in the intended direction, only approaching the surface 

 to breathe, finally ascending in close proximity to the slum- 

 bering seal, whose fate is now settled ; for it cannot take 

 refuge in the water without falling into the clutches of its 

 pursuer, and if it endeavors to escape landwards, it is speedily 

 overtaken and destroyed by the swifter-footed bear. 



Its- capabilities of scent are wonderfully acute, for it will 

 find out, by that sense alone, the little breathing holes which 

 the seals have made through the ice, even though covered with 

 a uniform coating of snow. Even the Esquimaux dog, 

 specially trained for this very purpose, is sometimes baffled 

 by the difficulty of discovering so small an aperture under 

 such circumstances, which nevertheless is no obstacle to 

 the bear. 



The Greenlanders never eat the heart or the liver, saying 

 that these parts cause sickness. It is a curious fact, that the 

 liver of this animal is, to a certain extent, poisonous, causing 



