330 THE POLAR BEAR. 



Its powers of endurance are necessarily great, for its means of subsistence are always pre- 

 carious, and in many cases are extremely small indeed. As the Bear is in the habit of passing 

 so much time upon the ice, and generally devours upon its frozen surface the prey which has 

 been captured, it is liable to be affected by the sudden and extraordinary changes that are 

 constantly taking place in the vast ice-fields of these cold regions. Pieces of ice on which the 

 Bears are quietly sleeping after their repast, become noiselessly dissevered from the main 

 body, and are carried off to sea for a very great distance before the Bear is aware of its enforced 

 voyage. Scoresby records such an instance, where he met with a Polar Bear upon a piece of 

 drift ice that was floating at sea some two hundred miles distant from the land. As the ice 

 nourishes no animals that could afford nutriment to the white-coated resident, the Bear is 

 forced to depend for its entire subsistence upon the fish that it may be able to capture. Out 

 at sea, however, the fishy tribe are not so easily procured as near the shore, and the hunger- 

 endurent powers of the Bear are thoroughly tested before it can again place its shaggy foot on 

 the welcome soil. 



Owing to these marine excursions the Polar Bear is forced to pay unwilling visits to civil- 

 ized shores which it loves not, and where it is obliged to fall upon the sheep and cattle of the 

 residents in order to appease its hunger. The ire of the owners is greatly excited by the loss 

 of their cattle, and the unfortunate Bear — a thief in spite of itself — is soon destroyed by the* 

 bereaved proprietors. Sometimes a whole party of Polar Bears is thus carried off, and for a 

 while they inflict infinite damage on the country where they land. 



As the Nennook passes its life among the wintry regions of the north, its hybernation has 

 been often discredited, and it has been said to make a partial migration southwards, so soon 

 as the terrible frosts of the Arctic winter close up the pools whereto the seals and other animals 

 which constitute its prey are in the habit of resorting. Other writers, again, assert that the 

 Polar Bear ceases feeding in the winter, as do the other members of the same group, and that 

 the young Nennooks are produced while the mother is safely housed in her den. There is a 

 truth in both these opinions, for it is now ascertained that the female Polar Bear is in the 

 habit of hybernating, but the male Nennook passes his winter in the active exercise of his 

 faculties. 



The winter home of the Polar Bear is always made in some sheltered situation, such as 

 the cleft of a rock, or the foot of a precipitous bank. In a very short time after the animal 

 has taken up her residence in her new abode, she is effectually concealed from observation by 

 the heavy snow-drifts, which cover the whole country with such strangely-shaped hills and 

 valleys that the Bear's den is entirely undiscoverable by the eye. Sometimes the Bear will 

 wait until a heavy fall of snow has taken place, and then will dig away the snow so as to form 

 a cavern of the requisite size. In all cases, the snow appears to be a necessary element in the 

 well-being of the animal during its long winter' s repose. If the female Bear should not be 

 about to take upon herself the cares of maternity, she does not think herself bound to lie 

 hidden during the winter, but traverses the ice-fields together with the male, and becomes 

 very fat during the cold months of the year. These nomad individuals do not confine their 

 peregrinations to the sea-shore, but extend their journeys inland to a considerable distance, 

 being sometimes found as far as thirty miles from the sea-coast. 



The young of the Nennook are generally two in number ; and when they make their first 

 appearance outside the snow-built nursery in which their few months of existence have been 

 passed, are about the size of shepherds' dogs, and in excellent condition. Their mother, 

 however, is sadly reduced by her long fast and the calls which have been made upon her by 

 her offspring ; so that she re-enters the world in a very poor condition of aspect and temper, 

 as might be expected of so ravenous and hungry an animal. Watchful over the safety of her 

 cubs, and unburdened by any superfluous flesh, she is a very dangerous personage to be 

 casually met with ; for she is so savage with hunger that her temper is in a constant state of 

 irritation ; and she is so jealous of the safety of her offspring that she suspects every moving 

 object to be an enemy. 



The flesh of the Polar Bear is eatable, and is highly esteemed by the Arctic voyagers, 

 who eagerly welcome a supply of fresh and wholesome meat such as is furnished by the animal 



