THE WHITE, OR 223 



SUPPLEMENT. 



t 



I here give a figure of the white fea-bear, from 

 a drawing fent me by the late Mr Colinfon. If 

 this drawing be exadl, it is certain that the fea- 

 bear is a different fpecies from the land-bear. 

 The head is fo long, when compared with that 

 of the common bear, that this charadler alone is 

 fufEcient to conftitute a diftlndl fpecies : And 

 thofe voyagers adhere to truth when they tell 

 us, that the figure of the fea-bear is totally dif- 

 ferent from ours, and that its head and neck 

 are much longer. From the drawing it like- 

 wife appears, that the feet, inftead of refembling 

 the human hand, like thofe of the land-bear, are 

 formed nearly like the feet of a large dog, and 

 other carnivorous animals of this kind. Befides, 

 from feveral relations, it appears, that fome of 

 thefe bears are much larger than the land-bear. 



Gerard 



■*vho fcents and purfues them from a natural antipathy ; be- 

 caufe they eat her young ; Recueil 4es voy. dii Nord. torn. \. 

 t- 99--^The {kins of the white bear are of great ufe to thofe 

 who travel in winter. They are drefled, even at Spitzbergen, 

 by fteeping them in warm water, which extrafts the greafe ; 

 and they are afterwards dried. . . . Their greafe is like fuet, 

 and, after being well melted, it becomes as clear as whale oil. 

 It is generally burnt in lamps, and has not fo bad a fmell as 

 fifli oil. Our failors fell it for whale oil. The flefli of thefe 

 bears is fat and whitifh — Their milk is very white and fat ; 

 Troijieme vp^, des Hollandois, (cm. z. p. 115. 



