BEARS. 171 



constitutes a grotesque beseecliment wliicli is sure to win a cake 

 from the laughing spectators." ^ 



They readily submit to taming, but their clumsy forms convey 

 the idea that they are deformed. They are often to be seen 

 accompanying the Indian mountebanks or jugglers, wh.o put them 

 through many amusing performances, to the delight of the crowd 

 "which inevitably gathers on such occasions. 



The Syrian bear {JJrsus Syriacus) is a yellowish-brown coloured 

 bear which is found in the mountains of Palestine, and it was 

 probably one of this species that was slain by David when a shep- 

 herd-boy. And the two she-bears which came out of the wood 

 and " tare forty and two " children, the mockers of Elisha, must 

 have been Syrian bears ; they are therefore the oldest animals of 

 their family of which there is any record. 



The quaint chronicler, Roger of Wendover, in his " Flowers 

 of History," also gives an account of an historical bear-fight with 

 one of these animals, for he tells us that Godfrey (Dux Gode- 

 fridus), riding for recreation during the siege of Antioch, saw a 

 man loaded with a bundle of dry wood flying from an angry bear, 

 and on his going to the rescue was unhorsed, and the horse being 

 terribly lacerated by the bear, Godfrey fought then on foot. 

 After a severe struggle, in which the bear hugged the duke with 

 its fore-paws and tried to throw him down that it might 

 tear him in pieces, the duke being a strong and athletic soldier, 

 plunged his sword up to the hilt in the ferocious animal and killed 

 it, but not before he had been himself most dangerously mauled. 

 His injuries were so severe that he had to be carried back to camp. 

 The historian informs us that on his recovery there was great joy 



in the army. 



The Spectacled bear {JJrsus ornatus) is an American animal, 

 restricted to the mountainous regions of Chili. It has a smooth, 

 shining, black fur, except on some parts of the throat and neck, 

 which are whitish, and the muzzle which is yellowish or buff 

 coloured. It derives its name from the peculiar rings of the 

 same hue that surround both eyes, which convey the idea to the 

 observer of spectacles. 



= "The Standard Natural History." 



