ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
23 
land, floating on the Arctic ice, from which he swims to the 
shore without difficulty. In the walrus he meets with a 
fierce enemy ; the dreadful combats that occur, at times, 
between them, generally terminating in the defeat of the 
bear. Probably in consequence of the extreme cold which 
prevails in the high latitudes it frequents, and the absence of 
vegetation in its haunts, its food is almost entirely of an 
animal nature, consisting of seals, fish, and the carcasses of 
whales, though it is able to live exclusively on vegetable food, 
as has been proved by experiments. % 
Its fore-paws are frequently rubbed bare, wdiich is thus 
accounted for : to surprise a seal, a bear crouches down 
with his fore paws doubled under him, and pushes himself 
forward with his hind legs, till within a few yards, when he 
springs on his victim, either in the water or on the ice. When 
engaged in the pursuit of seals as they are lying on a rock or 
ice-raft, it employs a very cunning mode of approach. Mark- 
ing the position in which its intended prey lies, it dives, swim- 
ming in the intended direction, only approaching the surface 
to breathe, finally ascending in close proximity to the slum- 
bering seal, whose fate is now settled ; for it cannot take 
refuge in the water without falling into the clutches of its 
pursuer, and if it endeavors to escape landwards, it is speedily 
overtaken and destroyed by the swifter-footed bear. 
Its capabilities of scent are wonderfully acute, for it will 
find out, by that sense alone, the little breathing holes which 
the seals have made through the ice, even though covered with 
a uniform coating of snow. Even the Esquimaux dog, 
specially trained for this very purpose, is sometimes baffled 
by the difficulty of discovering so small an aperture under 
such circumstances, which nevertheless, is no obstacle to 
the bear. 
The Greenlanders never eat the heart or the liver, saying 
that these parts cause sickness. It is a curious fact, that the 
liver of this animal is, to a certain extent, poisonous, causing 
