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ADVENTURES WITH THE BROWN BEAR. 
The affectionate nature of the Brown Bear is not only exercised towards human friends, 
but towards each other. Two of these animals which were born in captivity were exceed- 
ingly attached to each other. One of the two was sold and removed from its companion, 
which immediately became uneasy at the protracted absence of its playfellow. So deeply was 
its affectionate heart wounded by the separation, that it became nearly mad, and at last con- 
trived to make its escape from its place of confinement, evidently with the intention of search- 
ing after its lost friend. It was captured and replaced in its cage, but its health became so 
seriously affected that its owners were obliged to repurchase its companion and restore it to its 
disconsolate relation. 
Savage as is the Bear when attacked, it is naturally of a kind and playful disposition, 
seldom inflicting injury except when urged by fear or hunger. Mr. Atkinson, in his valuable 
work on Siberia, relates a curious and interesting anecdote of the gentleness which naturally 
actuates the Brown Bear : 
Two children, of four and six years of age, had wandered away from their home, and were 
after a little time missed by their parents, who set out in search of their offspring. To their 
horror and astonishment they found their children engaged in play with a large Bear, which 
responded to their infantine advances in a most affectionate manner. One of the children was 
feeding its shaggy playfellow with fruit, while the other had mounted on its back and was 
seated on its strange steed strong in the fearlessness of childish ignorance. 
The parents gave a terrified scream on seeing the danger to which their children were 
exposed, and the Bear, on seeing their approach, quietly turned away from the children and 
went into the forest. 
The same writer records a curious adventure with a Bear, which partakes largely of the 
ludicrous. 
A woman had lost her donkey, and after a long and fatiguing search she at last came 
on the missing animal. Being very much irritated with the truant for his misconduct, she 
fell to scolding and beating him with the handle of a broom which she happened to be carry- 
ing. Her vituperation and castigation were, however, suddenly checked by the discovery 
that the animal which she was beating so unceremoniously was not her donkey, but a great 
Brown Bear. The astonishment of the two seems to have been mutual, for the Bear was 
evidently as much confused by the unwarranted assault as was the woman by the sight of her 
antagonist ; so that after looking at each other for a few moments, the Bear turned tail and 
ran away as fast as his legs would carry him. 
It is but seldom that the Bear will make an unprovoked attack on a human being, and 
when he does so, it is generally because he is rendered desperate by the pangs of hunger. In 
such a case, the Bear is greatly to be dreaded by the benighted traveller, especially if he hap- 
pen to be journeying alone and has no companion who may share his watch. 
That wild beasts of all kinds are scared away by fire is a well-known fact, but the hungry 
Bear is of so cunning a nature that it even sets at defiance the flaming circle which would at 
other tim es afford a secure protection to the sleeping traveller. It is true that the Bear does 
not venture to cross the fiery barrier, but it contrives to avoid the difficulty in a most ingenious 
manner. Going to the nearest stream, it immerses itself into the water so as to saturate its 
fur with moisture, and then, returning to the spot where the intended prey lies asleep, the 
animal rolls over the flaming embers, quenching the glowing brands, and then makes its attack 
upon the sleeper. This curious fact is well known among the natives of Siberia, so that they 
have good grounds for the respect in which they hold the Bear’s intellectual powers. 
The Bear is possessed of several valuable accomplishments, being a wonderful climber of 
trees and rocks, an excellent swimmer, and a good digger. 
During the time when it is engaged in feeding, the Bear is constantly in the habit of 
climbing up all kinds of elevated spots, for the purpose of obtaining food, either vegetable or 
animal. Leaves of various trees are a favorite article of diet with the animal, as are also the 
nests of the wild bees and ants. Trusting to its powers of swimming, the Bear does not hesi- 
tate to cross considerable rivers in search of food or in order to escape from its enemies, and it 
is in the habit of taking frequent baths during the hotter months of the year, for the sake of 
