FOX. 
185 
of a Spitsbergen winter they have been seen prowl- 
ing about in search of prey. Their principal food 
consists of water-fowl, or their eggs ; of hares, or 
any lesser animals. And they are so voracious, 
when pressed by hunger, that when Beering, after 
suffering great hardships at sea, landed his men on 
the island that goes by his name, the foxes mangled 
the dead before they could be buried, and were even 
not afraid to approach the helpless sick, and smell 
to them like dogs. 
The ears of the Arctic fox, which are short and 
rounded, are almost hid in the fur. The long soft 
and silky hair with which the animal is covered, is 
sometimes blueish gray, and sometimes white. The 
toes are entirely covered with a thick fur, and the 
tail is shorter and more bushy than that of the com- 
mon fox. 
Steller, who resided for some time in the midst 
of these animals, has given us the fullest account of 
their manners, though his description appears to be 
a little overstrained. 
“ During my unfortunate abode,” says Steller, 
“ on Beering’s island, I had but too many oppor- 
tunities of studying the nature of these animals ; 
which far exceed the common fox in impudence, 
cunning, and roguery. The narrative of the innu- 
merable tricks they played us might vie with Al- 
bertus Julius’s History of the Apes on the island of 
Saxenbourg. 
“ They forced themselves into our habitations by 
night as well as by day, stealing all that they could 
