406 
THE BEAR. 
is unable to climb trees. The hair is long 
and abundant, varying through all the 
shades of gray and blackish brown. The 
eyes are rather small and sunken. It is 
said to be quite untamable.” 
“Did you ever see one ?” asked Antoin¬ 
ette. 
“I once saw two half-grown cubs in a 
menagerie,” replied Miss Winston. “They 
were very sulky and irritable, but seemed 
to be friendly with each other,—though the 
keepers did not succeed in gaining their 
confidence. They were ugly creatures, and 
their fur—perhaps from the effect of their 
confinement—seemed very harsh and dirty, 
entirely different from that either of the 
white or black bear.” 
“I never saw a white bear,” said Ma¬ 
tilda. 
“ The fur rug in the other parlour is 
made of the skin of a white bear,” said Miss 
Louisa. “ It is of a yellowish colour, you 
may observe, thick and long upon the 
outside edges but close and shorter in the 
middle. My father intended to have the 
natural shape preserved; but the man mis¬ 
took his orders and cut off the outside, 
