Uusiu.t;.- 



-.MAMMAL1A.- 



81 



more than a month old, a cub will ascend to the 

 shoulder of his keeper with great ease, and descend 

 again, stern foremost, with equal adroitness." Its food 

 consists chiefly of fruits, honey, and white ants, of 

 which latter it appears to be particularly fond. When 

 the Bengal bear " finds a nest of any kind of ants, but 

 especially white ants, he is in his glory ! he tears the 

 whole burrow, licking up all the clusters he can get at, 

 and lying with his tongue out to entice the little prey 

 into his mouth. By this means, he no doubt often 

 obtains an ample meal ; for I think I may with pro- 

 priety assert that frequently a bushel of white ants may 

 be found in the same nest. The presence of bears in 

 the vicinity of a village is generally pretty well known 

 by the nature of the covers, and their having been, 

 perhaps time out of mind, regular visitors ; sometimes, 

 however, they change their haunts, on which their 

 neighbourhood is commonly first discovered by the ant- 

 hills and burrows near the sides of roads being 

 found in a state of destruction." Their food, however, 

 does not appear to be confined to insects and fruit, for 

 the same naturalist observes that they will attack and 

 devour quadrupeds, and even man himself. He gives 

 the following sad account of their behaviour : " It has 

 often been in my way to see the operations of bears ; 

 and I am confident that no animals exist more cruel, 

 more fierce, nor more implacable than they are ! Such 

 as have suffered under their brutality have in all 

 instances within my knowledge borne the proofs of 

 having undergone the most dilatory torments. Some 

 have had the bones macerated, with little breaking of 

 the skin ; others have had the flesh sucked away into 

 long fibrous remnants, and, in one instance, the most 

 horrid brutality was displayed. While stationed at 

 Dacca, I went with a party several times to the great 

 house at Tergong, distant about five miles from the 

 town. I had on several occasions seen bears among 

 the wild mango topes, and did not consider them as 

 being so dangerous, until one day as I was returning 

 with a friend from hunting some hog-deer, we heard a 

 most lamentable outcry in the cover through which we 

 had to pass. Having our spears, and being provided 

 with guns, we alighted, not doubting but a leopard had 

 attacked some poor woodcutter. We met a woman 

 whose fears had deprived her of speech, and whose 

 senses were just flitting. She, however, collected her- 

 self sufficiently to pronounce the word bauloo, which 

 signifies a bear. She led us with caution to a spot 

 not more than fifty yards distant, where we found her 

 husband extended on the ground, his hands and feet, 

 as I before observed, sucked and chewed into a perfect 

 pulp, the teguments of the limb in general drawn from 

 under the skin, and the skull mostly laid bare, the 

 skin of it hanging down in long stripes, obviously 

 effected by their talons. What was most wonderful 

 was, that the unhappy man retained his senses suffi- 

 ciently to describe that he had been attacked by several 

 bears, one of which had embraced him about the head 

 and bit at his arms and legs, seemingly in competition 

 for the booty. We conveyed the wretched object to 

 the house, where, in a few hours, death relieved him 

 from a state in which no human being could afford the 

 smallest assistance !" The Bengal bears appear to be 

 VOL. I. 



abundant on the eastern side of the Ganges, but of late 

 years their number has been very considerably reduced 

 by the skill of our Indian officers, who are notoriously 

 fond of the sport of hunting. 



THE MALAYAN SUN-BEAU (Helarctos malayanus] 

 is also characterized by the possession of a deep jet- 

 black fur, the hairs of which are, however, compara- 

 tively shorter than obtains in the foregoing species, the 

 breast being marked by a white patch of a heart- 

 shaped colour. In the Bornean bear, which we take to 

 be a mere variety of this species, this patch is of a ful- 

 vous colour, and likewise deeply notched in front. The 

 Malayan bear feeds chiefly on vegetables and honey, 

 and is said to evince a special predilection for the young 

 shoots of cocoa-nut trees, to which it proves very 

 destructive. The length of the body is about four and 

 a half feet. This animal appears to be easily tamed, 

 if taken whilst still young. Sir Stamford Raffles' 

 account of one in his possession might almost induce 

 us to desire a similar companion. He says, it " was 

 brought up in the nursery with the children, and when 

 admitted to my table, as was frequently the case, gave 

 a proof of his taste by refusing to eat any fruit but 

 mangosteens, or to drink any wine but champagne. 

 The only time I ever knew him to be out of humour 

 was on an occasion when no champagne was forth- 

 coming. It was naturally of an affectionate disposition, 

 and it was never found necessary to chain or chastise 

 him. It was usual for this bear, the cat, the dog, and 

 a small blue mountain bird or lory of New Holland, to 

 mess together and eat out of the same dish. His 

 favourite playfellow was the dog, whose teasing and 

 worrying was always borne and returned with the 

 utmost good humour and playfulness. As he grew 

 up he became a very powerful animal, and in 

 his rambles in the garden he would lay hold of 

 the largest plantains, the stems of which he could 

 scarcely embrace, and tear them up by the roots." 

 Of a tame specimen of the Bornean variety, Dr. Hors- 

 field also gave the following interesting account: 

 " The Helarctos readily distinguishes the keeper, and 

 evinces an attachment to him. On his approach 

 it employs all its efforts to obtain food, seconding 

 them by emitting a coarse but not unpleasant whin- 

 ing sound. This it continues while it consumes 

 its food, alternately with a low grunting noise; but 

 if teased at this time, it suddenly raises its voice 

 and emits at intervals harsh and grating sounds. 

 Our animal is excessively voracious, and appears to 

 be disposed to eat almost without cessation. When 

 in a good humour, it often amuses the spectators 

 in a different manner. Calmly seated in its apartment, 

 it expands the jaws and protrudes its long and slender 

 tongue as above described. It displays on many occa- 

 sions not only much gentleness of disposition, but like- 

 wise a considerable degree of sagacity. It appears 

 conscious of the kind treatment it receives from its 

 keeper. On seeing him, it often places itself in a 

 variety of attitudes to court his attention and caresses ; 

 extending its nose and anterior feet, or suddenly turning 

 round exposing the back, and waiting for several 

 minutes in this attitude with the head placed on the 

 ground. It delights in being patted and rubbed, 



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