88 
armed with five exceedingly strong black 
claws. The carcase of the one men¬ 
tioned by Captain Phipps, though with¬ 
out the skin, head, and entrails, weighed 
6l0lbs. The flesh is white, and though 
of a coarse texture, is prised by some as 
equally delicious with mutton, especially 
when boiled; for when roasted, it is of an 
oily taste. The liver, it would seem, is 
of a poisonous nature, as some Dutch 
sailors who ate part of one were taken so 
extremely ill, that after they had recover¬ 
ed, the skin all over their bodies fell off' 
in scales. 
The fat makes good train oil, and that 
which is procured from the feet is some¬ 
times used in medicine, and is commonly 
known by 1 the name of bear’s grease. In 
some upwards of a hundred pounds of 
fat has been got, and Captain Fox is said 
to have killed one which yielded forty- 
eight gallons of oil. Forster’s Hist, Voy. 
p. 363. 
