110 MAMMALIA-BEAR. 



lengthened than that of the brown bear, and the body is longer in proportion 

 to its bulki In the Polar seas it may literally be said to swarm. There, it 

 is seen not only on the land and fixed ice, but on floating ice several leagues 

 out at sea. In the latter manner, Avhite bears are sometimes conveyed to 

 Iceland, where they are so much dreaded by the inhabitants that a crusade 

 is immediately commenced against them. At sea, the food of this animal 

 is fish, seals, and the carcases of whales ; on land, it preys upon deer and 

 other animals, and will eat various kinds of berries. In winter, it beds 

 itself deeply under the snow or eminences of ice, and awaits, in a 

 torpid state, the return of the sun. It suffers exceedingly when exposed to 

 great heat. 



Of the ferocity of the Polar bear, Barentz gives a striking proof. In 

 Nova Zembla they attacked his sailors, carried them ofi' in their mouths 

 with the utmost facility, and devoured them in sight of their comrades. A 

 few years ago, some sailors in a boat, fired at and wounded one. In spite 

 of his receiving another shot, he swam after the boat, and endeavored 

 to climb into it. One of his feet was cut off with a hatchet, but he still 

 pursued the aggressors to the ship. Numerous additional wounds did not 

 check his fury ; mutilated as he was, he ascended the ship's side, drove the 

 sailors into the shrouds, and Avas following them thither, when a mortal 

 shot stretched him dead on the deck. 



But even this formidable animal is not without its good qualities. It is a 

 faithful mate and an affectionate parent. Hearne tells us that, at certain 

 seasons of the year, the males are so much attached to their mates, that he 

 has often seen one of them, on a female being killed, come and put his 

 paws over her, and rather suffer himself to be shot than abandon her. 



"While the Carcase frigate, which went out some years ago to make 

 discoveries towards the North Pole, was locked in the ice, early one morn- 

 ing the man at the mast-head gave notice that three bears were making 

 their way very fast over the frozen ocean, and were directing their course 

 towards the ship. They had, no doubt, been invited by the scent of some 

 blubber of a walrus that the crew had killed a few days before ; which had 

 been set on fire, and was burning on the ice at the time of their approach. 

 They proved to be a she bear and her two cubs ; but the cubs were nearly 

 as large as the dam. They ran eagerly to the fire, and drew out of the 

 flames part of the flesh of the walrus that remained unconsuraed, and ate it 

 voraciously. The crew from the ship threw upon the ice great lumps of 

 the flesh of the sea horse, which they had still remaining. These the old 

 bear fetched away singly, laid every lump before her cubs as she brought it, 

 and dividing it, gave to each a share, reserving but a small portion to her- 

 self. As she was fetching away the last piece, the sailors levelled their 

 muskets at the cubs, and shot them both dead ; and in her retreat they 

 wounded the dam, but not mortally.* It would have drawn tears of pity 

 from any but imfeeling minds, to have marked the affectionate concern ex- 



