AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
217 
POLAR BEAR. 
UBS US MARITIMUS. 
[Plate XIX.] 
Ursus Maritimus, Linn. Ursus Albus. Briss. Regne 
Anim. p. 260. sp. 2. Ours Blanc ; Buff. Supp. tom. 
3. pi. 34. Ours Blanc: Desm. Mam. p. 10. sp. 257. 
The Polar Bear: Penn. Syn. quad. p. 192. ^ ah . 20. 
Jig. 1 . Pallas, spicil. Zool. xiv. tab. 1 . — Menagerie 
Living Animals, exhibited in Philadelphia, winter of 
1832—3. 
In the desolate regions of the north, where unrelent- 
ing winter reigns in full appanage of horrors during the 
greater part of the year, and even the stormy ocean itself 
is long imprisoned by “ thick ribbed ice,” the Polar 
Bear finds his most congenial abode. There, prowling 
over the frozen wastes, he satiates his hunger on the car- 
casses of whales deserted by the adventurous fishermen, 
or seizes on such marine animals as come up to bask in 
open air; and when occasion calls, he fearlessly plunges 
into the sea in pursuit of his prey, as if the deep were his 
native and familiar element. To most other animals ex- 
treme cold is distressing and injurious; to him it is wel- 
come and delightful: to him the glistening ice-bank or 
snow-wreathed shore, canopied by louring and tempestu- 
ous clouds, are far more inviting and agreeable, than ver- 
dant hills or sunny skies. 
Being endowed with extremely acute senses, great 
strength, and a savagely ferocious disposition withal, it is 
not surprising that this animal is dreaded as the most for- 
midable quadruped of the region he inhabits. Notwith- 
standing his great size and apparent heaviness, he is very 
active, and though his ordinary gait may appear clumsy, 
when excited by rage or hunger, his speed on the ice far 
exceeds that of the swiftest man. 
When on an extensive ice-field, the Polar Bear is often 
observed to ascend the knobs or hummocks, for the pur- 
pose of reconnoitering, or he stands with head erect to 
snuff the tainted air, which informs him where to find the 
whale carrion at astonishing distances. This substance, 
so unpleasant and disgusting to human sense, is a 
luxurious banquet to the bear, and a piece of it thrown on 
a fire will allure him from a distance of several miles. 
A considerable part of the Polar Bear’s food is sup- 
plied by seals, but very probably he suffers long fasts and 
extreme hunger, owing to the peculiar vigilance of these 
creatures; occasionally he is much reduced by being car- 
ried out to sea on a small island of ice, where he may be 
I i i 
forced to remain for a week or more without an opportu- 
nity of procuring food. In this situation they have been 
seen on ice-islands two hundred miles distant from land, 
and sometimes they are drifted to the shores of Iceland, 
or Norway, where they are so ravenous as to destroy all 
the animals they find. Most commonly such invaders 
are soon destroyed, as the natives collect in large num- 
bers and commence an immediate pursuit, but frequently 
do not succeed in killing them, before many of their flocks 
are thinned. An individual Polar Bear has occasionally 
been carried on the ice as far south as Newfoundland, but 
this circumstance very rarely occurs. 
This animal swims excellently, and advances at the 
rate of three miles an hour. During the summer season 
he principally resides on the ice-islands, and leaves one 
to visit another, however great be the distance. If inter- 
rupted while in the water, he dives and changes his course; 
but he neither dives very often, nor does he remain under 
water for a long time. Captain Ross saw a Polar Bear 
swimming midway in Melville Sound, where the shores 
were full forty miles apart, and no ice was in sight large 
enough for him to have rested on. The best time for 
attacking him is when he is in the water; on ice or land 
he has so many advantages that the aggressor is always in 
danger. Even in the water he has frequently proved a 
formidable antagonist, has boarded and taken possession 
of a small boat, forcing the occupants to seek safety by 
leaping overboard. Instances are related in which this 
animal has climbed up the sides of small vessels, and been 
with difficulty repelled from the deck. 
Generally the Polar Bear retreats from man; but when 
pursued and attacked he always resents the aggression, 
and turns furiously on his enemy. When struck at with 
a lance, he is very apt to seize and bite the staff in two, 
or wrest it from the hands. Should a ball be fired at him, 
without taking effect in the head or heart, his rage is in- 
creased, and he seeks revenge with augmented fury. It 
has been remarked that, when wounded and able to make 
his escape, he applies snow to the wound, as if aware that 
cold would check the flow of blood. 
A great majority of the fatal accidents following en- 
gagements with the Polar Bear, have resulted from im- 
prudently attacking the animal on the ice. Scoresby, in 
his interesting narrative of a voyage to Greenland, relates 
an instance of this kind. “ A few years ago, when one 
of the Davis’ Strait whalers was closely beset among the 
ice at the ‘ south west,’ or on the coast of Labrador, a 
bear that had been for some time seen near the ship, at 
length became so bold as to approach alongside, probably 
tempted by the offal of the provision thrown overboard 
by the cook. At this time the people were all at dinner, 
