B E A 



365 



B E A 



Star. In many parts of Siberia the hunters erect a scaffold 

 ~""v of several hea- - balks piled on each other, under 



which is placed a trap, which the bear no sooner 

 touches, than he brings down the whole scaffold upon 

 himself, and is crushed beneath its weight. Some- 

 times pits are dug, in which are fixed smooth, solid, 

 and sharp-pointed posts, rising about a foot from the 

 bottom. The mouth of the pit is carefully covered 

 over with sods, and across the bear's track is placed 

 an elastic bugbear, connected with a thin rope. As 

 soon as he touches the rope, the bugbear starts 

 loose, and the terrified animal, flying with preci- 

 pitation, falls violently into the pit, and is pierced 

 by the pointed stake. Should he escape this snare, 

 caltrops,* and other annoying instruments, await him 

 at a small distance. Amongst them is a similar frightful 

 log ; and the persecuted beast, in striving to get free, 

 only fixes himself faster to the spot, where the hun- 

 ter lies in ambush ready to take his aim. Nor is it 

 only upon the ground that the bear is exposed to dan- 

 ger from the cruel invention of man. In some parts of 

 America it is common to set fire to the trees on which 

 they take refuge, and they are easily despatched as 

 they descend. The Koriaks attach a noose to the 

 summit of a crooked tree, hanging something along 

 with it of which the bear is fond. Lured by this bait, 

 he eagerly climbs the tree : in attempting to seize 

 the bait, his neck is introduced into the noose, and 

 the tree, springing violently back into its former direc- 

 tion, keeps the animal suspended in the air. The plan 

 adopted by the mountaineers of Siberia to make the 

 bear kill himself, is yet more singular and ingenious. 

 They fasten a very heavy block to a rope, terminating 

 at the other end with a loop. This block they lay near 

 a steep precipice in the wonted path of the bear. 

 Finding his neck in the noose, and unable to proceed 

 for the clog, he takes it up in a rage, and, to disen- 

 cumber himself, throws it down the precipice ; he is 

 naturally pulled after it, and is generally killed by 

 the fall. If he happens to survive the first shock, 

 he again drags the block up the steep, and renews 

 his efforts for freedom, till, with increasing fury, he 

 either sinks nerveless to the ground, or, by one decisive 

 plunge, puts an end to his torments. In Kamtshatka 

 the bears are so harmless and familiar, that women 

 and girls go out fearless amidst a whole drove of 

 them to gather herbs and roots, and they often ap- 

 proach them to eat out of their hand. They have 

 never been known to attack a man, except when 

 roused from their sleep, and even when wounded sel- 

 dom turn upon their pursuer. Yet this harmless 

 character of the Kamtshadale bear gives him no secu- 

 rity from the persecutions of mankind. Armed with 

 clubs and spears, the hunter traces the bear to his 

 retreat, who, intent only on defence, gravely collects 

 the faggots brought by his persecutor, and chokes 

 up the entrance to his den. The hunter then bores 

 a hole through the top of the cavern, and in perfect 

 security spears his defenceles foe. " It would be 

 difficult," says Mr Tooke, " to name a species of 

 animals, excepting the sheep, so variously serviceable 



to man as the bear is after his death to the Kamt- Beard, 

 shadales. Of the skin of this animal, they make 

 beds, covertures, caps, gloves, and collars for their 

 sledge-dogs. Those who go upon the ice for the 

 capture of marine animals make their shoe soles of 

 them, which have this advantage, that the wearer is 

 not in danger of slipping with them. The fat of the 

 bear is held in great estimation as a very savoury and 

 wholesome nourishment, and when melted, and thus 

 rendered fluid, supplies the place of oil. The flesh 

 is reckoned such a dainty, that they seldom eat it 

 alone, but usually invite a number of guests to par- 

 take of the delicious repast. The intestines, when 

 cleansed and properly scraped, are worn by the fair 

 sex as masks to preserve their faces from the effects 

 of the sun-beams, which here, on being reflected from 

 the snow, are generally found to blacken the skin, by 

 which means the Kamtshadale ladies preserve a fine 

 complection. The Russians of Kamtshatka make 

 window-panes of the intestines of the bear, which are as 

 transparent and clear as those made of Muscovy glass. 

 Of the shoulder blades are made sickles for cutting 

 grass. A light black bear-skin is one of the most com- 

 fortable and costly articles of the winter wardrobe of a 

 man of fashion at Petersburg or Moscow, and even the 

 small white hand of a belle is slipt into the large 

 bear-muff, which covers half of her elegant shape." 

 See Buffon' 's Natural History, vol. vi. 12mo ; Tooke's 

 View of the Russian Empire, vol. iii. p. 53 59. (f) 



BEARD, the hair which grows upon the chin 

 and contiguous parts of the face, in males, and some- 

 times, though rarely, in females, at the age of puber- 

 ty. The growth of the beard, in men, is a sign of 

 maturity, or approaching manhood; and takes place, 

 at the period when the seminal secretion commences. 

 When that secretion sfops, from any derangement of 

 the system, it is said that the beard falls off ; and 

 when the secretion discontinues, in old age, the beard 

 grows thin, and flaccid. The beard has, therefore, 

 an intimate sympathy, with this change in the con- 

 stitution of the male. Bearded women are all said to 

 want the menstrual discharge ; and various instances 

 are given by Hippocrates, and other physicians, of 

 grown females, especially widows, in whom beards- 

 appeared upon the discontinuance of this discharge. 



Many instances are recorded, by different writers, of 

 women with remarkably long beards. Eusebius Nie- 

 rembergius mentions a woman whchad a beard reach- 

 ing even to her navel. Charles XII. had in his army 

 a female grenadier, who, both by her courage and 

 her beard, might well have passed for a man. She 

 was taken at the battle of Pultowa, and carried to 

 Petersburg, where she was presented to the czar in 

 ] 724 ; at which time her beard measured a yard and 

 a half. We read in the Dictionary of Trevoux, that 

 there was a woman seen at Paris, who had not only 

 a bushy beard on her face, but likewise her whole 

 body covered over with hair. The celebrated Mar- 

 garet, governess of the Netherlands, had likewise a 

 very long stiff beard, on which she greatly prided 

 herself, and was very solicitous to preserve it undi- 



The caltrops are irons with four spikes, so formed, that whatever way they fall, one point alway* lies upward, generally 

 thrown in breaches and on bridges to annoy an eemy's horse. This name is also given to an instrument with three iron spikes, 

 used in hunting the wolf. 



