48 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



animal having undergone this discipline for some time, is considered fit to appeal- before the public ; 

 and so strongly is the association of his former sufferings connected with the sound of the drum, that 

 he no sooner hears it, than he begins to make the same motion -with his feet as during his tuition on 

 the iron plates. But even in this tutoring it is necessary that the animal should be taken youngs and 

 held in constraint ever after. The bear which has passed his youth is not to be tamed, nor even held 

 in awe, and shews himself, if not actually intrepid, at least fearless of danger. The wild bear turns 

 not from his path, nor offers to shun the sight of man ; and yet, it is said, by a certain whistle he may 

 be surprised, and so far charmed as to stop and stand upon his hind-feet. This is the time to shoot, 

 or by one method or other to destroy him, for when only wounded in an attack, he darts with fury at 

 his foe, and clasping him with his fore-paws, is sure to stifle or strangle him, unless immediate assist- 

 ance be given. The bear enjoys the senses of seeing, hearing, and feeling, in great perfection, and 

 yet, compared with the size of the body, his eye is very small; his ears are also short, his skin 

 coarse, and his hair very thick. His sense of smell is exquisite, more so, perhaps, than that of any 

 other animal ; the internal surface of his nose being very extensive, and excellently calculated to 

 receive the impression of smells. He strikes with his paw as a man strikes with his fist ; but in what- 

 ever particular he may bear a rude resemblance to the human species, he is only rendered the more 

 deformed by it, nor does it give him the smallest superiority over other animals. 



It is in the winter season that the females generally bring forth their young, which are usually two 

 hi number. When she is with young, the she bear is exceedingly fat, sleeping the greater part of her 

 time, and consequently, having very little exercise or motion, must necessarily lose very little by perspi- 

 ration. Before the young leave the womb, the formation is perfect, and if either the foetus of the bear, 

 or the bear when newly born, appear at the first glance unshapely and unformed, it is merely because 

 there is want of proportion in the body and members even of the grown bear, and because, which 

 is well known to be the case in all animals, the fetus, or new-born animal, is always more dispropor- 

 tioned than the grown animal. 



Bears are so numerous in Kamschatka that they are often seen roaming about the plains in great com- 

 panies, and they would infallibly have long since exterminated all the natives, were they not here much 

 more tame and gentle than the majority of their species are in other parts of the world. In spring 

 they descend in multitudes from the mountains to the mouths of the rivers, for the purpose of catching 

 fish. If there be plenty of this food, they eat nothing but the heads of the fish ; and when at any 

 time they find the fishermens' nets, they dexterously drag them out of the water, and empty them of 

 their contents. 



The bear has been at all times a favourite object of the chase, on account of the many important 

 respects in which he is useful to mankind. It would be difficult, says Mr. Tooke, in his view of the 

 Russian empire, to name a species of animals, with the exception of the sheep, so variously serviceable 

 to man as the bear is, after his death, to the Kamschatdales. Of the skin they make beds, covertures, 

 caps, and gloves, and collars for their sledge-dogs. Those who go upon the ice for the capture of 

 marine animals make their shoe-soles of the same substance, which thus never slip upon the ice. The 

 fat of the bear is held in high estimation as a savoury and wholesome food, and when rendered fluid by 

 heat, it supplies the place of oil. The flesh is esteemed a great delicacy, and a bear ham, even among 

 more refined nations, is no despicable bonne bouche for the professed epicure. The intestines, when 

 cleansed and properly scraped, are worn by the fair sex as masks to preserve their faces from the effects 

 of the sunbeams, which here being reflected from the snow, are otherwise found to blacken the skin. Of 

 their intestines they also make window panes, which are as clear and transparent as those made of 

 Muscovy glass. Of the shoulder-blades are made sickles for cutting grass, and the head and haunches 

 are hung up by these people, as ornaments and trophies, on the trees around their dwellings. 



