46 BEARS. 



III. THE WHITE BEAR. 



THE white bear enjoys a reputation for ferocity which 

 does not yield to that of the grizzly, and his character 

 will not be changed for the better by what we are about 

 to tell of him. 



A ship returning from Nova Zembla having cast 

 anchor off one of the islands at the mouth of the 

 Strait of Waigatz, two sailors had the curiosity to 

 visit that island. 



After walking about there for some time, they sat 

 down on the shore, in sight of the vessel. 



They were chatting tranquilly together when one 

 of them suddenly felt himself seized forcibly by the 

 back of the neck. 



He at first supposed it to be one of those rough 

 jokes in which sailors sometimes indulge. " Who is 

 squeezing me so ? " cried he. 



The other sailor, turning round, uttered a cry of 

 alarm " Oh, my God, it is a bear ! " and he ran 

 away. 



It was, in fact, an enormous but very lean white bear, 

 which had stealthily approached the two mariners, and 

 which soon made a corpse of the one who had fallen 

 into his clutches. 



Aroused by the desperate cries of the other, the 

 ship's crew, armed with pikes and guns, threw them- 



