THE WHITE OR 219 



all that voyagers have faid of the fea-bear, a- 

 mounts only to this, that his head, body, and 

 hair are longer than thole of our bear, and that 

 Jiis fkuU is much harder. Ifthefe differences 

 were real and confiderable, they would be fuffi- 

 cient to conftitute a feparate fpecies. But 1 am 

 not certain that Martin has examined with ac- 

 curacy, and that the other writers who copied 

 him, have not exaggerated *. * Thefe white 

 ' bears,' he remarks, ' are quite otherwife lliaped 

 ' than thofe that are feen in our country ; they 

 ' have a long head like unto a dog, and a long 



* neck, and they bark like dogs that are hoarfe, 

 ' and all their whole body is much otherwife 

 ' Ihaped than ours. 1 hey are flender in the 



* body, and a great deal fvvifter ;' Martin s voy- 

 age to Spitzbergen, p. loo. This defcriptioa 

 furnifhes the following remarks : i. That the 

 author does not make thefe bears larger than 

 ours; and, confequently, that we ought to fu- 

 fpedt the evidence of thofe who tell us that the 

 fea-bear is fometimes thirteen feet in length j". 

 2. That hair as foft as wool is not a fpecific cha- 

 ra£ter ; for, to render hair foft, and even more 

 bufhy, it is only neceflary that an animal be 

 frequently in the water, as appears from the land 



and 



* Anderfon's hi ft. of Greenland ; and Ellis's Voy. to Hud- 

 fon's Bay. 



f A white bear, which had been killed, was brought aboard. 

 , Its ikin was thirteen feet Jong ; Troi/teme voytige des Hdlandoh 

 par le Nord, p. 35. 



