220 P O L A R BEAR. 



and water beavers. The latter, who dwell of- 

 tener in the water than on land, have coarfer 

 and lefs bu(hyhair : And, I am inclined to think, 

 that the other differences are neither real nor fo 

 confpicuousas Martin would have us to believe; 

 for Dithmar Blefken, in his delcription of Ice- 

 land, mentions thefe bears, and aflures us, that 

 he faw one killed in Greenland, which railed 

 itfelf on the two hind feet, like our bears ; but 

 he fays not one word which indicates that the 

 white bear of Greenland is not entirely fimilar 

 to ours*. Befides, when thefe animals fmd 

 prey on land, they never go to fea in queft of 

 food. They devour rain-deer, and fuch other 

 animals as they can feize. They even attack 

 men, and never fail to dig up dead bodies t« 

 But hunger, which they often feel in thefe de- 

 fert and barren lands, obliges them to frequent 

 the water, in queft of feals, young walrufes, and 



whales. 



» Habet Iflandia colons albl ingentes Uribs .■. . in Grocn- 

 landia urfuni magnum et album habiiimus obviam, qui neque 

 nostimebat neque noflro clamore abigi poterat, verum reifla 

 ad nos taiiquam ad certarn praedam contendebat, cumque 

 propius nos accefliiret, is bonbarda trajeclus, ibi demum erec- 

 lus, pofterioribus pedibus tanquam homo llabat donee tertio 

 trajiceretur, atque ita exanimatus concidit ; Dithmar Blefken. 

 /. 64. _ 



\ The white bears live upon dead whales, and, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of thefe carcaffcs, they are moft frequently found. 

 They likevife devour men, when they can furprife them. If 

 Uiey fccnt the place where a dead body is interred, they re- 

 move the earth and ftones, open the coffin, and eavthe carcafs ; 

 Recueil del vojages du Nord, torn. 2. />. u6. 



