108 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Sagacity in searching for prey. 



them thither, when a shot laid him lifeless upon 

 the deck. 



The hon. Robert Boyle has given an account 

 of the sagacity of these quadrupeds in searching 

 for prey; which it would be unpardonable to 

 pass over in silence. " An old sea-captain/' 

 says our author, " told me that the white bears 

 in or about Greenland, notwithstanding the cold- 

 ness of the climate, have an excellent nose ; and 

 that sometimes when the fishermen had dismis- 

 sed the carcase of a whale, and left it floating on 

 the waves, three or four leagues from the shore, 

 whence it could not be seen ; these animals would 

 stand as near the water as they could, and raising 

 themselves on their hind legs, loudly snuff in the 

 air, and with the two paws of their fore legs drive 

 it as it were against their snouts; and when they 

 were (as my relater supposed) satisfied whence 

 the odour came, they would cast themselves into 

 the sea, and swim directly towards the whale: as 

 this person and others observed, who had some- 

 times the curiosity to row at a distance after them, 

 to see whether their noses would serve them for 

 guides when their eyes could not." 



The favourite food of the Polar bear consists 

 of seals, the carcases of whales, and other fish : 

 they also frequently attack the Arctic walrus, or 

 sea-horse, but that creature, from the prodigious 

 strength and sharpness of its tusks, generally 

 comes off victorious. When at a distance from 

 the sea, they prey on deer, hares, young birds, 



