BEAR-HABITS. 
391 
Wliitey,’ as lie figures in this journal—lost a flower 
from liis chaplet. But two of the rest escaped with¬ 
out a grip. 
“ Strange to say, in spite of the powerful flings which 
they were subjected to in the fight, not a dog suffers 
seriously. I expected, from my knowledge of the 
hugging propensity of the plantigrades, that the ani¬ 
mal Avould rear, or at least use her forearm; but she 
invariably seized the dogs with her teeth, and, after 
disposing of them for the time, abstained from follow¬ 
ing up the advantage. The Esquimaux assert that 
this is the habit of the hunted bear. One of our Smith 
Sound dogs, ‘Jack,’ made no struggle when he was 
seized, but was flung, with all his muscles relaxed, 1 
hardly dare to say how far: the next instant he rose 
and renewed the attack. The Esquimaux both of 
Proven and of this country say that the dogs soon 
learn this ‘possum-playing’ habit. Jack was an old 
bear-dog. 
“ The bear seems to be more ferocious as he increases 
his latitude, or more probably as he recedes from the 
hunting-fields. 
“At Oominak, last winter, (1852,) an Esquimaux 
and his son were nearly killed by a bear that had 
housed himself in an iceberg. They attacked him 
with the lance, but he turned on them and worsted 
them badly before making his escape. 
“But the continued pursuit of man seems to have 
exerted already a modifying influence upon the ursine 
character in South Greenland; at all events, the bears 
