266 DOCILITY. 



may be accounted for by her faculties being in a degree 

 bewildered by her long nap. It is true, that when roused 

 from her lair in the winter, she appears reluctant to leave 

 her progeny behind her, especially when they are very young. 

 But she very rarely, I suspect, makes an effort to defend 

 them, either whilst in the lair itself, or subsequently when on 

 foot. If when in company with her cubs, she herself be 

 wounded, she will often, like other bears, attack a man, but 

 generally speaking, not otherwise. Out of the many she- 

 bears with cubs that I myself have fallen in with in the 

 winter time, and for the most part when I was alone, or 

 nearly so, they have never, in a single instance, shown fight 

 for the sake of their young. 



Bears are not difficult to tame. At different times I have 

 had several in my possession, which were tolerably tractable. 

 If kept in proper order, which a stick, well applied, greatly 

 facilitates, they show much more docility than one would 

 expect from their savage nature. I have seen a well-grown 

 lad bestride one of mine, and the beast go off with him 

 at a gallop. On one occasion I retained two bears, male 

 and female, until the beginning of their fifth year, and even 

 then not unfrequently allowed the beasts to run at large ; but 

 only when I was present, as from their size and strength they 

 were somewhat dangerous. If at liberty, their gambols were 

 very amusing, especially in the summer time, when they 

 quickly found their way into the apple and other garden 

 trees, where they feasted with delight on the fruit. 



If properly fed, bears in confinement grow much more 

 rapidly than when in a state of nature ; such at least has 

 been the experience of myself and others. Hence probably 

 the enormous bulk of the noble brown bear, which was 



