62 THE POLAR BEAR. 



authenticated anecdotes. Voyagers inform us that she carries 

 her cubs on her back in swimming, or when they are tired, as 

 swans and many other aquatic birds will sometimes carry their 

 young. 



A half- grown cub, which was captured and brought on board 

 ship, after its companions had been killed and itself slightly 

 wounded, afforded a pitiable sight "as it sat upon the jawbone 

 of a whale, which projected between the taffrail, at one moment 

 devouring pieces of its mother and sister with avidity, and at 

 the next stretching its throat and blaring out mournfully when 

 a fragment of ice met its view, passing astern as we sailed on 

 our course."* 



Though cold appears to be the greatest luxury to the polar 

 bear, yet some writers say that he passes the severest period 

 of the arctic winter in a torpid state, sheltered from the intense 

 cold by the snow that has accumulated upon him. But some 

 doubt exists on this matter. " Our navigators," Dr. Richardson 

 observes, "confirm the statements of Fabricius and Hearne, 

 that the Polar bear does not hibernate, having occasionally seen 

 them in the winter, and actually pursued one in December. 

 The Esquimaux killed eight or ten in the winter of 1 822 j and 

 Mr. Edwards learnt from the hunters, that they often saw and 

 killed the males when roaming at large during that season, and 

 as often dug the dams with their cubs from under the snow. 

 These facts seem conclusive as to the uniform hibernation of 

 the gravid females, and the, at least, occasional appearance of 

 the males abroad in the winter. It is possible, however, that 

 the latter may also become torpid in the winter, when the local 

 circumstances of their native districts are such as to preclude 

 them from reaching open water at that season 5 and thus the 

 opposite opinions of naturalists may be in some degree recon- 

 ciled."! 



The Polar bear is hunted for the sake of its beautiful fur, 

 which makes excellent rugs and warm wearing apparel. The 



* Tales of a Voyager to the Arctic Regions. 

 t Appendix to Parry's Second Voyage, p. 229. 



