BEARS. 
5 
In Southern Labrador the Polar bear seems to be totally extinct, the last specimen 
that was seen on the shores of the Strait of Belle Isle (dividing Labrador from 
Newfoundland) having been killed in the year 1849. In Labrador the range of 
the white bear overlaps that of the American black bear. 
Baron Nordenskiold states that the Polar bear generally lives on 
Hcibits. 
such coasts and islands as are surrounded by ice, while it is often 
found on the ice-fields far out at sea, which form its best hunting-grounds. In 
regard to the numbers of these animals, he states that the Norwegian “ vessels from 
Tromsoe brought home in 1868 twenty, in 1869 fifty-three, in 1870 ninety-eight, 
in 1871 seventy-four, and in 1873 thirty-three bears. It may be inferred from 
this that the Norwegian walrus-hunters kill yearly on an average at least a 
POLAR BEAR CLIMBING A FLOE. 
hundred bears. It is remarkable that in this large number a pregnant female or 
one with newly-born young is never found. The female bear appears to keep her¬ 
self well concealed during the time she is pregnant,—perhaps in some ice-hole in 
the interior of the country.” 
In Nordenskiold’s opinion it is uncertain if the Polar bear hibernates, although 
there are several circumstances indicating that it probably does so. In the most 
northerly wintering-stations of ships, the bears almost completely disappear during 
the long arctic winter, while there are cases where some of them have been 
found concealed in holes. It will, however, be obvious that this disappearance 
from the more northern regions in winter may well be due to migration, while 
the individuals found in concealment may all have been females, which are known 
to bring forth their young beneath the snow. Other writers, as we shall see 
below, definitely state that in many districts males and young cubs are to be 
