MEMOIR OF PENNANT. V 



it to the water's edge, and after launching it, they 

 embark and place themselves round the heap with 

 their heads joined over it, and their backs to the 

 water, their tails pendent in the water, serving the 

 purpose of rudders/ When I consider the wonder- 

 ful sagacity of beavers, and think of the manage- 

 ment of the squirrel, which in cases of similar 

 necessity make a piece of bark their boat, and 

 tail their sail, I no longer hesitate to credit the re- 

 lation. 



" The common fox and the arctic are frequent ; 

 but they are proscribed and killed, in order to pre- 

 vent the havoc they would make among the sheep. 

 The polar bear is often transported from Greenland 

 on the islands of floating ice ; but no sooner is ite 

 landing discovered, than a general alarm is spread, 

 and pursuit made till it is destroyed. The Ice- 

 landers are very intrepid in their attacks on this 

 animal ; and a single man, armed only with a spear, 

 frequently enters the lists with this tremendous 

 beast, and never fails of victory. A person who 

 lived near Langeness, the extreme northern point, 

 where the bears most frequently land, is still cele- 

 brated for having slain not fewer than twenty in 

 single combat. There is a reward for every skin, 

 which must be delivered to the next magistrate. 



" The amphibious animals, or seals, are very nu- 

 merous. Iceland being blest with domestic animals, 

 has less use of this race than other arctic countries ; 

 yet they are of considerable advantage. The skins 



