328 



BEAR 



regain that element ; and it has much more command 

 of itself there, and is furnished with tusks so powerful, 

 that though the bear sometimes ventures to measure 

 his strength with it, he seldom gains the mastery. 

 The young ,f the walrus is, however, often caught 

 by him ; but still the seal is his staple food, and it is 

 very abundant. The number of seals in some parts 

 of those northern seas, especially about Jan Mayen 

 and Cherrie la'and, is beyond what would readily be 

 supposed ; and it is in the vicinity of those islands 

 that the largest bears have been seen. 



It is not improbable that the whale fishery in the 

 Arctic Sea may have given an artificial character to 

 the polar bear in the summer, or at all events it has 

 brought him into places where naturally there would 

 be much less to tempt his presence. The smell of 

 the ships, the offai which the crews cast upon the 

 water and the ice, the " kreng " of whales, are all cal- 

 culated to entice an animal which can smell at so 

 great a distance as this bear. Thus these animals 

 may range further upon the ice than they did before 

 the fishery ; and, as there is a new provision of food 

 for them, they may be more abundant than they were 

 once. It is probable too that, about the time of the 

 breaking up of the ice, when there is a general sur- 

 face current to the south, more of them may drift 

 upon detached boards of ice ; and, partly by swim- 

 ming, partly by walking on the ice, they certainly 

 visit ships in more southerly places than those which 

 they usually inhabit. When they make those visits, 

 they are more bold and daring than when in those 

 places which may be supposed more natural to them ; 

 and there are instances when, in these cases, they 

 carry off some of the ships' crews. " A few years 

 ago," says Scoresby, " when one of the Davis's Strait 

 Whalers was closely besot among the ice at the 

 ' south-west,' or on the coa".t of Labrador, a bear that 

 had been for some time near the ship at length be- 

 came so bold as to approach along side, probably 

 tempted by the offal of the provision thrown over- 

 board by the cook. At this time the people were all 

 at dinner, no one being required to keep the deck in 

 the then immoveable condition of the ship. A hardy 

 fellow, who first looKed out, perceiving the bear so 

 near, imprudently jumped upon the ice, armed only 

 with a handspike, with a view, it is supposed, of 

 training all the honour of the exploit by securing so 

 fierce a visitor by himself. But the bear, regardless 

 of such weapons, and sharpened probably by hunger, 

 disarmed his antagonist, and, seizing him by the back 

 with his powerful jaws, carried him off with such 

 celerity that on his dismayed comrades rising from 

 their meal and looking abroad, he was so far beyond 

 their reach as to defy their pursuit." 



From the nature of their food the flesh of the polar 

 bears is more rank and fishy, and less agreeable to the 

 taste than that of the land bears, though, with the 

 exception of the liver, which has been found to be 

 poisonous, all the parts of the animal are wholesome. 

 The muscle is whitish, and soft and tender consider- 

 ing the strength of the animal. The fat resembles 

 tallow, and melts into a transparent oil, which has no 

 offensive smell. The skin is very serviceable as well 

 as handsome for a variety of domestic purposes ; and 

 to the northern people it is an article of considerable 

 value. The Grecnlunders pull it off entire, and 

 invert it like a sack, into which a person creeps and 

 finds a warm and comfortable bed. The natives 

 about Hudson's Bay dress it to a very pliable con- 



sistency. They stretch it on a patch of snow, and 

 stake it down till it is stillly frozen, then they scrane 

 it till they see the roots of the hair ; after which tney 

 leave it some time to bleach and dry, and it soon 

 becomes perfectly clean, beautifully wiiite, and very 

 flexible. 



The domestic manners of these powerful animals 

 are not much known. The pairing season is under- 

 stood to be in July and August ; and such is the 

 attachment of the pair, that if one is killed, the other 

 remains fondling the dead body, and will suffer itst-lf 

 to be killed rather than leave it. The ti'inali-s retire 

 to their hybernation about Christmas, sooner or later, 

 according to the season. These are often excavated 

 in the snow, and the animals remain dormant in them 

 till about the first of April, when they come abroad 

 with their cubs, usually two in number, which are 

 then about the size of* rabbits. She is exceedingly 

 attached to them, and nothing but death itself can 

 put an end to her attentions. When they are mor- 

 tally wounded, she will fondle them, turn them over, 

 lick them, offer them food, and pay even more ten- 

 der attention than many human beings ; and when 

 she finds that all her efforts are unavailing, she moans 

 most piteously. 



The following is one of the many instances of this 

 maternal affection : 



" Early in the morning, the man at the mast head 

 gave notice that three bears were making their way 

 very fast over the ice, and directing their course 

 towards the ship. They had probably been invited 

 by the blubber of a sea-horse, which the men had set 

 on fire, and which was burning on the ice at the time 

 of their approach. They proved to be a she-bear 

 and her two cubs ; but the cubs were nearly as large 

 as the dam. They ran eagerly to the fire, and drew 

 out from the flames part of the flesh of the sea-horse, 

 which remained unconsumed, and ate it voraciously. 

 The crew from the ship threw great pieces of the 

 flesh, which they had still left, upon the ice, which 

 the old bear carried away singly, laid every piece 

 before her cubs, and dividing them, gave each a share, 

 reserving but a small portion for herself. As she was 

 carrying away the last piece, they levelled their mus- 

 kets at the cubs, and shot them both dead ; and in 

 her retreat, they wounded the dam, but not mor- 

 tally. 



" It would have drawn tears of pity from any but 

 unfeeling minds, to have marked the affectionate 

 concern manifested by this poor beast, in the last 

 moments of her expiring young. Though she was 

 sorely wounded, and could but just crawl to the 

 place where they lay, she carried the lump of flesh 

 she had fetched away, as she had done the others 

 before, tore it in pieces, and laid it down before them : 

 and when she saw that they refused to eat, she laid 

 her paws first upon one, and then upon the other, 

 and endeavoured to raise them up. All this while it 

 was piteous to hear her moan. When she found she 

 could not stir them, she went oft', and when at some 

 distance, looked back and moaned ; and that not 

 availing to entice them away, she returned, and 

 smelling around them, began to lick their wounds. 

 She went off a second time as before ; and having 

 crawled a few paces, looked again behind her, and 

 for some time stood moaning. But still her cubs iiot 

 rising to follow her, she returned to them ag;iin, and 

 with signs of inexpressible fondness went round first 

 one and then the other, pawing them, and moaning. 



