226 ORDER V. 



ferocity, and constant tenacity of life, strength that 

 can lift a dead horse into forks of trees, and an 

 unaccountable but universally asserted habit of not 

 attacking a sleeping man, we may infer, though 

 other particularities might be added, that these are 

 sufficient elements of awe and wonder, associated 

 with the idea of bear, to create all the legends and 

 opinions entertained on the subject. 



It would be, besides, a mistaken view of nature, 

 if among the Camivora, species of such strength, 

 so much sagacity, and among themselves of socia- 

 bility, species which have not an imperative call to 

 shed blood, but can subsist with satisfaction on 

 vegetables, and, in autumn, are often excessively 

 fat, we should not find occasional traits of forbear- 

 ance, or even of capricious affection, such as was 

 strongly evinced by the domesticated bear at Nanci 

 in 1709, which, in a severe winter, took a starving 

 Savoyard boy under his protection, kept him sleep- 

 ing in his arms, reserved part of his food for him, 

 and, though he allowed him full liberty, was furious 

 when the child was offered to be taken from him. 

 The wild she bear, in more than a single instance, 

 lias been known to bestow her forbearance, and 

 even affection, on human beings; and the Indian 

 stories of women having been preserved unhurt, by 

 the caprice of bears, are not without some founda- 

 tion. Hence, among the red Indians of the west, 

 the bear is often regarded as the original progenitor 

 of the tribe, as still animating the substantial or the 

 shadowy forms of men, as having mysterious powers 



