430 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



ravenously, that he allowed our author to slip a noose over his 

 head, by which he was secured. 



Wolf. — They are extremely troublesome to the Esquimaux. 

 A single wolf will go amongst any number of Esquimaux dogs, 

 and carry off one without any resistance on the part of the 

 rest. These dogs have such an extreme dread of the wolf that 

 they tremble and howl when aware of its approach. 



Arctic Fox. — In July, 1831, one of their burrows was 

 found on the margin of a lake : it had several passages opening 

 into a common cell, beyond which was an inner cell, containing 

 six young ones. In the outer cell and passages were great 

 numbers of lemming, ermine, and the bones of hares, fish, and 

 ducks. Four of the cubs were kept alive, and became very 

 tame. 



Hudson's Bay Lemming. — It has been found in the highest 

 latitude yet reached : it congregates in the summer by the sea 

 shores, and breeds among the loose stones : in the winter it con- 

 structs a nest of dry grass on the surface of the earth, beneath 

 the snow, and makes numerous passages from its nest, by which 

 it roams in search of food, seldom appearing above the snow ; 

 if it happens to venture out, it burrows in the snow with such 

 rapidity on being disturbed, that it is seldom taken. Our 

 author made a singular experiment on this animal. Having 

 tamed one, and kept it in the cabin, he found it did not assume 

 the usual coat of white, almost universally worn by the Arctic 

 quadrupeds in winter; he therefore placed it on deck, in a 

 temperature of thirty degrees below zero ; in a single day the 

 cheeks and a patch on each shoulder had become perfectly 

 white. The following day the white had extended : the four 

 following days it still continued increasing in white, and on the 

 seventh day the animal was perfectly white, except a transverse 

 mark on the shoulders, which was prolonged some way down 

 the back, in the form of a saddle. On examining the fur, the 

 white hairs were the longest, and were white at the tips only : 

 on clipping it with scissars, it was as brown as before the 

 change. 



Polar Hare. — This animal is abundant in the polar regions, 

 and appears to seek no shelter from the inclemency of the cli- 

 mate. It produces from four to eight young at a birth. If 

 caught young, it is easily tamed : one taken in June became 

 tame enough to eat from the hand in a few days. It preferred 



