52 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



when his fate was first made known. The story fled 

 like wildfire from one end of Paris to the other, and in 

 a short time the populace were fully convinced that 

 Martin had killed him ; and this, combined with other 

 exaggerations, induced them to flock in multitudes to see 

 the murderous bear. Afterwards, two balls of arsenic, 

 wrapped up in some sweet substance, were found in the 

 pit, fortunately before Martin had touched them ; and 

 the authorities of the establishment thought it prudent 

 to remove him to a den in the menagerie. The front of 

 these dens was closed at night with a sliding shutter, 

 pulled down by inserting a hook at the end of a long 

 pole into a ring, which ring, when the shutter was down, 

 served to admit a bolt. This did not at all please 

 Martin, and the keeper never could accomplish the fas- 

 tening, till some one else went to the other side to take 

 off the bear's attention, for the moment the shutter wag 

 down, Martin inserted his claws and pushed it up again ; 

 and this practice was continued as long as he existed. 



The Malayan Sun Bear ( Ursus Malay ensis) has a long 

 tongue, short smooth fur, very extensible flexible lips, 

 and large claws. Sir Stamford Raffles had one which 

 was brought up in the nursery with his children, and 

 when he joined the party at table, would only eat the 

 choicest fruit, and drink champagne, and even be out of 

 humour when there was none of the latter. He was very 

 affectionate, and never required to be chained or chastised. 

 This bear, a cat, a dog, and a lory from New Holland, 

 used to eat amicably out of the same dish. His favourite 

 playfellow, however, was the dog, although he was teazed 

 and worried by it incessantly. He grew to be very 

 powerful, and pulled plants and trees up by the roots, 

 the latter of which were too large for him to embrace. 



