Of this animal there are many species; among which, the white bear of
the polar regions, and the grisly bear of the eastern slope of the
Rocky Mountains, are the largest and most formidable. The brown bear is
common to both continents. The most remarkable of the other species are
the Bornean, spectacled, large-lipped, Thibetian, and Malayan.
The BROWN or BLACK BEAR.--_Miscellaneous Anecdotes._--This species,
like the rest of the family, is a solitary animal; for he only remains
associated with his mate for a short period, and then retires to his
winter retreat, which is usually in the hole of a rock, the cavity of a
tree, or a pit in the earth, which the animal frequently digs for
himself. He sometimes constructs a kind of hut, composed of the
branches of trees, which he lines with moss. In these situations he
continues, for the most part, in a lethargic state, taking no food, but
subsisting entirely on the absorption of the fat which he has
accumulated in the course of the summer.
The modes that are adopted, by the inhabitants of different countries,
for taking or destroying bears, are various. Of these, the following
appear to be the most remarkable: In consequence of the well-known
partiality of these animals for honey, the Russians sometimes fix to
those trees where bees are hived a heavy log of wood, at the end of a
long string. When the unwieldy creature climbs up, to get at the hive,
he finds himself interrupted by the log; he pushes it aside, and
attempts to pass it; but, in returning, it hits him such a blow, that,
in a rage, he flings it from him with greater force, which makes it
return with increased violence; and he sometimes continues this, till
he is either killed, or falls from the tree.
In Lapland, hunting the bear is often undertaken by a single man, who,
having discovered the retreat of the animal, takes his dog along with
him, and advances towards the spot. The jaws are tied round with a
cord, to prevent his barking; and the man holds the other end of this
cord in his hand. As soon as the dog smells the bear, he begins to show
signs of uneasiness, and, by dragging at the cord, informs his master
that the object of his pursuit is at no great distance.
When the Laplander, by this means, discovers on which side the bear is
stationed, he advances in such a direction that the wind may blow from
the bear to him, and not the contrary; for otherwise, the animal would,
by his scent, be aware of his approach, though not able to see the
enemy, being blinded by sunshine. The olfactory organs of the bear are
exquisite. When the hunter has advanced to within gunshot of the bear,
he fires upon him; and this is very easily accomplished in autumn, as
he is then more fearless, and is constantly prowling about for berries
of different kinds, on which he feeds at this season of the year.
Should the man chance to miss his aim, the furious beast will directly
turn upon him in a rage, and the little Laplander is obliged to take to
his heels with all possible speed, leaving his knapsack behind him on
the spot. The bear, coming up to this, seizes upon it, biting and
tearing it into a thousand pieces. While he is thus venting his fury,
the Laplander, who is generally a good marksman, reloads his gun, and
usually destroys him at the second shot; if not, the bear in most cases
runs away.
Bear-baiting was a favorite amusement of our English ancestors. Sir
Thomas Pope entertained Queen Mary and the Princess Elizabeth, at
Hatfield, with a grand exhibition of a "bear-baiting, with which their
highnesses were right well content." Bear-baiting was part of the
amusement of Elizabeth, among "the princely pleasures of Kenilworth
Castle." Rowland White, speaking of the queen, then in her
sixty-seventh year, says,--"Her majesty is very well. This day she
appoints a Frenchman to do feats upon a rope, in the Conduit Court.
To-morrow she has commanded the bears, the bull, and the ape, to be
bayted, in the tilt-yard. Upon Wednesday, she will have solemn
dauncing." The office of chief master of the bear was held under the
crown, with a salary of 16d. _per diem_. Whenever the king chose to
entertain himself or his visitors with this sport, it was the duty of
the master to provide bears and dogs, and to superintend the baiting;
and he was invested with unlimited authority to issue commissions, and
to send his officers into every county in England, who were empowered
to seize and take away any bears, bulls, or dogs, that they thought
meet, for his majesty's service. The latest record, by which this
diversion was publicly authorized, is a grant to Sir Saunders Duncombe,
October 11, 1561, "for the sole practice and profit of the fighting and
combating of wild and domestic beasts, within the realm of England, for
the space of fourteen years." Occasional exhibitions of this kind were
continued till about the middle of the eighteenth century.
We are told, in Johnston's _Sketches of India_, that "bears will often
continue on the road, in front of a palanquin, for a mile or two,
tumbling, and playing all sorts of antics, as if they were taught to do
so. I believe it is their natural disposition; for they certainly are
the most amusing creatures imaginable, in a wild state. It is no wonder
they are led about with monkeys, to amuse mankind. It is astonishing,
as well as ludicrous, to see them climb rocks, and tumble, or rather
roll, down precipices. If they are attacked by a person on horseback,
they stand erect on their hind legs, showing a fine set of white teeth,
and make a crackling kind of noise. If the horse comes near them, they
try to catch him by the legs; and, if they miss him, they tumble over
and over several times. They are easily speared by a person mounted on
horseback, that is bold enough to go near them."
Bears ascend trees with great facility. Of their fondness for climbing,
we have the following curious instance: In the end of June, 1825, a
tame bear took a notion of climbing up the scaffolding placed round a
brick stalk, erecting by Mr. G. Johnstone, at St. Rollox. He began to
ascend very steadily, cautiously examining, as he went along, the
various joists, to see if they were secure. He at length, to the
infinite amusement and astonishment of the workmen, reached the summit
of the scaffolding, one hundred and twenty feet high. Bruin had no
sooner attained the object of his wishes, than his physiognomy
exhibited great self-gratulation; and he looked about him with much
complacency, and inspected the building operations going on. The
workmen were much amused with their novel visitor, and every mark of
civility and attention was shown him; which he very condescendingly
returned, by good-humoredly presenting them with a shake of his paw. A
lime bucket was now hoisted, in order to lower him down; and the
workmen, with all due courtesy, were going to assist him into it; but
he declined their attentions, and preferred returning in the manner he
had gone up. He afterwards repeated his adventurous visit.
"Bears," says Mr. Lloyd, "are not unfrequently domesticated in
Wermeland. I heard of one that was so tame, that his master, a peasant,
used occasionally to cause him to stand at the back of his sledge when
on a journey; but the fellow kept so good a balance, that it was next
to impossible to upset him. When the vehicle went on one side, bruin
threw his weight the other way, and _vice versa_. One day, however, the
peasant amused himself by driving over the very worst ground he could
find, with the intention, if possible, of throwing the bear off his
equilibrium, by which, at last, the animal got so irritated, that he
fetched his master, who was in advance of him, a tremendous thwack on
the shoulders with his paw. This frightened the man so much, that he
caused the beast to be killed immediately."
Of the ferocity of the bear there are many instances on record. A brown
bear, which was presented to his late majesty, George III., while
Prince of Wales, was kept in the Tower. By the carelessness of the
servant, the door of the den was left open; and the keeper's wife
happening to go across the court at the same time, the animal flew out,
seized the woman, threw her down, and fastened upon her neck, which he
bit; and without offering any further violence, lay upon her, sucking
the blood out of the wound. Resistance was in vain, as it only served
to irritate the brute; and she must inevitably have perished, had not
her husband luckily discovered her situation. By a sudden blow, he
obliged the bear to quit his hold, and retire to his den, which he did
with great reluctance, and not without making a second attempt to come
at the woman, who was almost dead, through fear and loss of blood. It
is somewhat remarkable, that, whenever he happened to see her
afterwards, he growled, and made most violent struggles to get at her.
The prince, upon hearing of the circumstance, ordered the bear to be
killed.
But the bear is also capable of generous attachment. Leopold, Duke of
Lorraine, had a bear called Marco, of the sagacity and sensibility of
which we have the following remarkable instance: During the winter of
1709, a Savoyard boy, ready to perish with cold in a barn, in which he
had been put by a good woman, with some more of his companions, thought
proper to enter Marco's hut, without reflecting on the danger which he
ran in exposing himself to the mercy of the animal which occupied it.
Marco, however, instead of doing any injury to the child, took him
between his paws, and warmed him by pressing him to his breast, until
next morning, when he suffered him to depart, to ramble about the city.
The young Savoyard returned in the evening to the hut, and was received
with the same affection. For several days he had no other retreat; and
it added not a little to his joy, to perceive that the bear regularly
reserved part of his food for him. A number of days passed in this
manner without the servants' knowing any thing of the circumstance. At
length, when one of them came to bring the bear its supper, rather
later than ordinary, he was astonished to see the animal roll his eyes
in a furious manner, and seeming as if he wished him to make as little
noise as possible, for fear of awaking the child, whom he clasped to
his breast. The bear, though ravenous, did not appear the least moved
with the food which was placed before him. The report of this
extraordinary circumstance was soon spread at court, and reached the
ears of Leopold, who, with part of his courtiers, was desirous of being
satisfied of the truth of Marco's generosity. Several of them passed
the night near his hut, and beheld, with astonishment, that the bear
never stirred as long as his guest showed an inclination to sleep. At
break of day, the child awoke, was very much ashamed to find himself
discovered, and, fearing that he would be punished for his temerity,
begged pardon. The bear, however, caressed him, and endeavored to
prevail on him to eat what had been brought to him the evening before,
which he did at the request of the spectators, who afterwards conducted
him to the prince. Having learned the whole history of this singular
alliance, and the time which it had continued, Leopold ordered care to
be taken of the little Savoyard, who, doubtless, would have soon made
his fortune, had he not died a short time after.
Munster relates the following story of a man being strangely relieved
from a perilous situation: A countryman in Muscovy, in seeking for
honey in the woods, mounted a stupendous tree, which was hollow in the
centre of its trunk; and, discovering that it contained a large
quantity of comb, descended into the hollow, where he stuck fast in the
honey, which had been accumulated there to a great depth; and every
effort on his part to extricate himself proved abortive. So remote was
this tree, that it was impossible his voice could be heard. After
remaining in this situation for two days, and allaying his hunger with
the honey, all hope of being extricated was abandoned, and he gave
himself up to despair. At last a bear, who, like himself, had come in
search of honey, mounted the tree, and descended the hollow cleft,
"stern forward." The man was at first alarmed, but mustered courage to
seize the bear with all the firmness he could; upon which the animal
took fright, made a speedy retreat, and dragged the peasant after it.
When fairly out of the recess, he quitted his hold, and the bear made
the best of its way to the ground, and escaped.
It would appear that, in the remote regions of the United States, the
common black bear is occasionally found of a cinnamon color, and
sometimes even white. Tanner gives us the following account: "Shortly
after this, I killed an old she-bear, which was perfectly white. She
had four cubs; one white, with red eyes and red nails, like herself;
one red, and two black. In size, and other respects, she was the same
as the common black bear; but she had nothing black about her but the
skin of her lips. The fur of this kind is very fine, but not so highly
valued by the traders as the red. The old one was very tame, and I shot
her without difficulty; two of the young ones I shot in the hole, and
two escaped into a tree.
"I had but just shot them when there came along three men, attracted,
probably, by the sound of my gun. As these men were very hungry, I took
them home with me, fed them, and gave them each a piece of meat, to
carry home. Next day, I chased another bear into a low poplar-tree; but
my gun being a poor one, I could not shoot him.
"A few days after, as I was hunting, I started, at the same moment, an
elk and three young bears; the latter ran into a tree. I shot at the
young bears, and two of them fell. As I thought one or both must only
be wounded, I sprang towards the root of the tree, but had scarcely
reached it when I saw the old she-bear coming in another direction. She
caught up the cub which had fallen near her, and, raising it with her
paws, while she stood on her hind feet, holding it as a woman holds a
child, she looked at it for a moment, smelled the ball-hole, which was
in its belly, and perceiving it was dead, dashed it down, and came
directly towards me, gnashing her teeth, and walking so erect that her
head stood as high as mine. All this was so sudden, that I scarce
reloaded my gun, having only time to raise it, and fire, as she came
within reach of the muzzle. I was now made to feel the necessity of a
lesson the Indians had taught me, and which I very rarely
neglected--that is, to think of nothing else before loading it again."
Some years ago, a boy, of New Hampshire, found a very young cub, near
Lake Winnipeg, and carried it home with him. It was fed and brought up
about the house of the boy's father, and became as tame as a dog.
Every day its youthful captor had to go to school at some distance,
and, by degrees, the bear became his daily companion. At first, the
other scholars were shy of the creature's acquaintance; but, ere long,
it became their regular playfellow, and they delighted in sharing with
it the little store of provisions which they brought, for their
sustenance, in small bags. After two years of civilization, however,
the bear wandered to the woods, and did not return. Search was made for
him, but in vain.
Four succeeding years passed away, and, in the interval, changes had
occurred in the school alluded to. An old dame had succeeded to the
ancient master, and a new generation of pupils had taken the place of
the former ones. One very cold, winter day, while the schoolmistress
was busy with her humble lessons, a boy chanced to leave the door half
way open, on his entrance, and, suddenly, a large bear walked in.
The consternation of the old lady, and her boys and girls, was
unspeakable. Both schoolmistress and pupils would fain have been
abroad; but the bear was in the path, and all that could be done was to
fly off, as far as possible, behind the tables and benches. But the
bear troubled nobody. He walked quietly up to the fireplace, and warmed
himself, exhibiting much satisfaction in his countenance during the
process.
He remained thus about a quarter of an hour, and then walked up to the
wall where the provender bags and baskets of the pupils were suspended.
Standing on his hind feet, he took hold of these successively, put his
paws into them, and made free with the bread, fruit, and other
eatables, therein contained. He next tried the schoolmistress's desk,
where some little provisions usually were; but finding it firmly shut,
he went up again to the fire, and, after a few minutes' stay before it,
he walked out by the way he came in.
As soon as the schoolmistress and her pupils had courage to move, the
alarm was given to the neighbors. Several young men immediately started
after the bear, and, as its track was perfectly visible upon the snow,
they soon came up with it, and killed it. Then it was that, by certain
marks upon its skin, some of the pursuers recognized, in the poor bear,
no enemy, but an old friend of their own recent school days. Great
regret was felt at the loss of the creature. It was like killing a
human friend rather than a wild animal.
Landor furnishes us with the following account: A man in Sweden set off
one morning to shoot the cock of the woods. This bird is so extremely
shy, that he may rarely be met with, except in the pairing season,
when, every morning, he renews his song. He usually commences just
before sunrise, beginning in a loud strain, which gradually sinks into
a low key, until he is quite entranced with his own melody; he then
droops his wings to the earth, and runs to the distance of several
feet, calling, _Cluck, cluck, cluck_! during which time, he is said to
be incapable of seeing, so wrapped up is he in his own contemplations,
and may be caught even with the hand by those who are near enough, as
the fit lasts only a few moments. If unready, wait for the next
occasion; for, should he advance a step, except when the bird is thus
insensible, he will certainly be overheard, and the victim escape.
The man I began to speak of, being, early one morning, in pursuit of
this bird, heard his song at a short distance, and, as soon as the
_clucking_ commenced, of course advanced as rapidly as he could, and
then remained motionless, till these particular notes were again
sounded. It was quite dusk, the sun not having yet risen; but the song
seemed to come from an open space in the forest, from which the sun was
just emerging. He could not see many yards before him, and only
followed the direction of the sound. It so happened that, from another
point, but at no great distance, a bear was advancing on the bird, just
in the manner of, and with the same steps as the man.
The hunter, whilst standing motionless, thought he perceived a dark
object on one side of him; but it did not much engage his attention; at
the usual note, he moved on toward the game, but was surprised to see
that the black object had also advanced in an equal degree, and now
stood on a line with him. Still he was so eager after the bird, that he
could think of nothing else, and approached close to his prey before he
perceived that a large bear stood within a few feet of him; in fact,
just as they were about to spring on the bird, they caught sight of one
another, and each thought proper to slink back. After having retreated
a short distance, the man began to think it would be rather inglorious
to yield the prize without a struggle; and there being now more light,
he returned to the spot, when it appeared that the bear had also taken
the same resolution, and was actually advancing over the same open
space I have mentioned, growling, and tearing up the grass with her
feet. Though the man had only shot in his gun, he fired without
hesitation, and immediately took to his heels and fled, conceiving the
bear to be close in his rear, and returned not to pause till he gained
his own habitation. Having armed himself anew, and taken a companion
with him, he again repaired to the spot, where he found the bear lying
dead on the ground, some of the shots having entered her heart.
The American black bear lives a solitary life in forests and
uncultivated deserts, and subsists on fruits, and on the young shoots
and roots of vegetables. Of honey he is exceedingly fond, and, as he is
a most expert climber, he scales the loftiest trees in search of it.
Fish, too, he delights in, and is often found in quest of them, on the
borders of lakes and on the sea-shore. When these resources fail, he
will attack small quadrupeds, and even animals of some magnitude. As,
indeed, is usual in such cases, the love of flesh, in him, grows with
the use of it.
As the fur is of some value, the Indians are assiduous in the chase of
the creature which produces it. "About the end of December, from the
abundance of fruits they find in Louisiana and the neighboring
countries, the bears become so fat and lazy that they can scarcely run.
At this time they are hunted by the Indians. The nature of the chase is
generally this: the bear chiefly adopts, for his retreat, the hollow
trunk of an old cypress-tree, which he climbs, and then descends into
the cavity from above. The hunter, whose business it is to watch him
into this retreat, climbs a neighboring tree, and seats himself
opposite to the hole. In one hand he holds his gun, and in the other a
torch, which he darts into the cavity. Frantic with rage and terror,
the bear makes a spring from his station; but the hunter seizes the
instant of his appearance, and shoots him.
"The pursuit of the bear is a matter of the first importance to some of
the Indian tribes, and is never undertaken without much ceremony. A
principal warrior gives a general invitation to all the hunters. This
is followed by a strict fast of eight days, in which they totally
abstain from food, but during which the day is passed in continual
song. This is done to invoke the spirits of the woods to direct the
hunters to the places where there are abundance of bears. They even cut
the flesh in divers parts of their bodies, to render the spirits more
propitious. They also address themselves to the manes of the beasts
slain in the preceding chases, and implore these to direct them, in
their dreams, to an abundance of game. The chief of the hunt now gives
a great feast, at which no one dares to appear without first bathing.
At this entertainment, contrary to their usual custom, they eat with
great moderation. The master of the feast touches nothing, but is
employed in relating to the guests ancient tales of feasts in former
chases; and fresh invocations to the manes of the deceased bears
conclude the whole.
"They then sally forth, equipped as if for war, and painted black. They
proceed on their way in a direct line, not allowing rivers, marshes, or
any other impediment, to stop their course, and driving before them all
the beasts they find. When they arrive at the hunting-ground, they
surround as large a space as they can, and then contract their circle,
searching, at the same time, every hollow tree, and every place capable
of being the retreat of a bear; and they continue the same practice
till the chase is expired.
"As soon as a bear is killed, a hunter puts into his mouth a lighted
pipe of tobacco, and, blowing into it, fills the throat with the smoke,
conjuring the spirit of the animal not to resent what they are about to
do to its body, or to render their future chases unsuccessful. As the
beast makes no reply, they cut out the string of the tongue, and throw
it into the fire. If it crackle and shrivel up, which it is almost sure
to do, they accept this as a good omen; if not, they consider that the
spirit of the beast is not appeased, and that the chase of the next
year will be unfortunate."
When our forefathers first settled in America, bears were common in all
parts of the country along the Atlantic. Many adventures with them took
place, some of which are recorded in the histories of the times. The
following is said to have occurred at a later period:--
Some years since, when the western part of New York was in a state of
nature, and wolves and bears were not afraid of being seen, some
enterprising pilgrim had erected, and put in operation, a sawmill, on
the banks of the Genesee. One day, as he was sitting on the log, eating
his bread and cheese, a large, black bear came from the woods towards
the mill. The man, leaving his luncheon on the log, made a spring, and
seated himself on a beam above; when the bear, mounting the log, sat
down with his rump towards the saw, which was in operation, and
commenced satisfying his appetite on the man's dinner. After a little
while, the saw progressed enough to interfere with the hair on bruin's
back, and he hitched along a little, and kept on eating. Again the saw
came up, and scratched a little flesh. The bear then whirled about,
and, throwing his paws around the saw, held on, till he was mangled
through and through, when he rolled off, fell through into the flood,
and bled to death.
The GRISLY BEAR.--This creature, which is peculiar to North America,
is, perhaps, the most formidable of the bruin family in magnitude and
ferocity. He averages twice the bulk of the black bear, to which,
however, he bears some resemblance in his slightly elevated forehead,
and narrow, flattened, elongated muzzle. His canine teeth are of great
size and power. The feet are enormously large--the breadth of the fore
foot exceeding nine inches, and the length of the hind foot, exclusive
of the talons, being eleven inches and three quarters, and its breadth
seven inches. The talons sometimes measure more than six inches. He is,
accordingly, admirably adapted for digging up the ground, but is unable
to climb trees, in which latter respect he differs wholly from most
other species. The color of his hair varies to almost an indefinite
extent, between all the intermediate shades of a light gray and a black
brown; the latter tinge, however, being that which predominates. It is
always in some degree grizzled, by intermixture of grayish hairs. The
hair itself is, in general, longer, finer, and more exuberant, than
that of the black bear.
The neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains is one of the principal haunts
of this animal. There, amidst wooded plains, and tangled copses of
bough and underwood, he reigns as much the monarch as the lion is of
the sandy wastes of Africa. Even the bison cannot withstand his
attacks. Such is his muscular strength, that he will drag the ponderous
carcass of the animal to a convenient spot, where he digs a pit for its
reception. The Indians regard him with the utmost terror. His extreme
tenacity of life renders him still more dangerous; for he can endure
repeated wounds which would be instantaneously mortal to other beasts,
and, in that state, can rapidly pursue his enemy; so that the hunter
who fails to shoot him through the brain is placed in a most perilous
situation.
One evening, the men in the hindmost of one of Lewis and Clark's canoes
perceived one of these bears lying in the open ground, about three
hundred paces from the river; and six of them, who were all good
hunters, went to attack him. Concealing themselves by a small eminence,
they were able to approach within forty paces unperceived; four of the
hunters now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body, two of which
passed directly through the lungs. The bear sprang up, and ran
furiously, with open mouth, upon them; two of the hunters, who had
reserved their fire, gave him two additional wounds, and one, breaking
his shoulder-blade, somewhat retarded his motions. Before they could
again load their guns, he came so close on them, that they were obliged
to run towards the river, and before they had gained it, the bear had
almost overtaken them. Two men jumped into the canoe; the other four
separated, and, concealing themselves among the willows, fired as fast
as they could load their pieces. Several times the bear was struck, but
each shot seemed only to direct his fury towards the hunters; at last
he pursued them so closely that they threw aside their guns and
pouches, and jumped from a perpendicular bank, twenty feet high, into
the river. The bear sprang after them, and was very near the hindmost
man, when one of the hunters on the shore shot him through the head,
and finally killed him. When they dragged him on shore, they found that
eight balls had passed through his body in different directions.
Richardson relates the following story of a grisly bear. A party of
voyagers, who had been employed all day in tracking a canoe up the
Saskatchewan, had seated themselves, in the twilight, by a fire, and
were busy in preparing their supper, when a large grisly bear sprang
over their canoe that was behind them, and, seizing one of the party by
the shoulder, carried him off. The rest fled in terror, with the
exception of a man named Bourasso, who, grasping his gun, followed the
bear as it was retreating leisurely with its prey. He called to his
unfortunate comrade that he was afraid of hitting him if he fired at
the bear; but the latter entreated him to fire immediately, as the
animal was squeezing him to death. On this he took a deliberate aim,
and discharged his piece into the body of the bear, which instantly
dropped its prey to pursue Bourasso. He escaped with difficulty, and
the bear retreated to a thicket, where it is supposed to have died. The
man who was rescued had his arm fractured, and was otherwise severely
bitten by the bear, but finally recovered.
The WHITE BEAR.--The polar bear is considerably larger than the brown
or black bear, and is covered with a long, thick fur, of a bright white
beneath and of a yellowish tinge above. Besides the difference in
external appearance, there is a remarkable distinction between the
brown and the polar bears; for the former prefers, as his abode, the
wooded summits of alpine regions, feeding principally on roots and
vegetables; while the latter fixes his residence on the sea-coast, or
on an iceberg, and seems to delight in the stormy and inhospitable
precincts of the arctic circle, where vegetation is scarcely known to
exist, feeding entirely on animal matter. But it cannot be regarded as
a predatory quadruped, for it seems to prefer dead to living animal
food, its principal subsistence being the floating carcasses of whales.
It also preys upon seals, which it catches with much keenness and
certainty, as they ascend to the surface of the ocean to breathe; and
sometimes fish are caught by them, when they enter shoals or gulfs.
They move with great dexterity in the water, and capture their prey
with apparent ease. It is only when these bears quit their winter
quarters, and especially when the female has to protect her young, that
they manifest great ferocity.
While the Carcass, one of the ships of Captain Phipps's voyage of
discovery to the north pole, was locked in the ice, early one morning
the man at the mast-head gave notice that three bears were making their
way very fast over the Frozen Ocean, and were directing their course
towards the ship. They had no doubt been invited by the scent of some
blubber of a sea-horse, which the crew had killed a few days before,
and which, having been set on fire, was burning on the ice at the time
of their approach. They proved to be a she-bear and her two cubs; but
the cubs were nearly as large as the dam. They ran eagerly to the fire,
and drew out from the flames part of the flesh of the sea-horse that
remained unconsumed, and ate it voraciously.
The crew of the ship threw great lumps of the flesh they had still left
upon the ice, which the old bear fetched away singly, laying every
piece before the cubs as she brought it, and, dividing it, gave each a
share, reserving but a small portion to herself. As she was fetching
away the last piece, they levelled their muskets at the cubs, and shot
them both dead, at the same time wounding the dam in her retreat, but
not mortally. It would have drawn tears of pity from any but the most
unfeeling, to have marked the affectionate concern expressed by this
poor animal, in the dying moments of her expiring young. Though she was
sorely wounded, and could but just crawl to the place where they lay,
she carried the lump of flesh she had just fetched away, as she had
done the others, tore it in pieces, and laid it down before them. When
she saw they refused to eat, she laid her paws first upon the one, then
upon the other, and endeavored to raise them up, making, at the same
time, the most pitiable moans.
Finding she could not stir them, she went off, and, when she had got to
some distance, looked back, and moaned; and that not availing to entice
them away, she returned, and, smelling round them, began to lick their
wounds. She went off a second time, as before, and having crawled a few
paces, looked again behind her, and for some time stood moaning. But
still her cubs not rising to follow, she returned to them anew, and,
with signs of inexpressible fondness, went round, pawing them
successively. Finding, at last, that they were cold and lifeless, she
raised her head towards the ship, and growled a curse upon the
destroyers, which they returned with a volley of musket-balls. She fell
between her cubs, and died licking their wounds.
The polar bears are remarkably sagacious, as the following instances
may prove. Those in Kamtschatka are said to have recourse to a singular
stratagem, in order to catch the _bareins_, which are much too swift
of foot for them. These animals keep together in large herds; they
frequent mostly the low grounds, and love to browse at the base of
rocks and precipices. The bear hunts them by scent, till he comes in
sight, when he advances warily, keeping above them, and concealing
himself among the rocks, as he makes his approach, till he gets
immediately over them, and near enough for his purpose. He then begins
to push down, with his paws, pieces of rock among the herd below. This
manoeuvre is not followed by any attempt to pursue, until he finds he
has maimed one of the flock, upon which a course immediately ensues,
that proves successful, or otherwise, according to the hurt the barein
has received.
The captain of a Greenland whaler, being anxious to procure a bear
without injuring the skin, made trial of a stratagem of laying the
noose of a rope in the snow, and placing a piece of kreng within it. A
bear, ranging the neighboring ice, was soon enticed to the spot by the
smell of burning meat. He perceived the bait, approached, and seized it
in his mouth; but his foot, at the same time, by a jerk of the rope,
being entangled in the noose, he pushed it off with his paw, and
deliberately retired. After having eaten the piece he had carried away
with him, he returned. The noose, with another piece of kreng, having
been replaced, he pushed the rope aside, and again walked triumphantly
off with the bait. A third time the noose was laid; but, excited to
caution by the evident observations of the bear, the sailors buried the
rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep hole dug in the
centre. The animal once more approached, and the sailors were assured
of their success. But bruin, more sagacious than they expected, after
snuffing about the place for a few moments, scraped the snow away with
his paw, threw the rope aside, and again escaped unhurt with his prize.
A Greenland bear, with two cubs under her protection, was pursued
across a field of ice by a party of armed sailors. At first, she seemed
to urge the young ones to an increase of speed, by running before them,
turning round, and manifesting, by a peculiar action and voice, her
anxiety for their progress; but, finding her pursuers gaining upon
them, she carried, or pushed, or pitched them alternately forward,
until she effected their escape. In throwing them before her, the
little creatures are said to have placed themselves across her path to
receive the impulse, and, when projected some yards in advance, they
ran onwards, until she overtook them, when they alternately adjusted
themselves for another throw.
In the month of June, 1812, a female bear, with two cubs, approached
near a whale ship, and was shot. The cubs, not attempting to escape,
were taken alive. These animals, though at first very unhappy, became,
at length, in some measure reconciled to their situation, and, being
tolerably tame, were allowed occasionally to go at large about the
deck. While the ship was moored to a floe, a few days after they were
taken, one of them, having a rope fastened round his neck, was thrown
overboard. It immediately swam to the ice, got upon it, and attempted
to escape. Finding itself, however, detained by the rope, it endeavored
to disengage itself in the following ingenious way: Near the edge of
the floe was a crack in the ice, of considerable length, but only
eighteen inches or two feet wide, and three or four feet deep. To this
spot the bear turned, and when, on crossing the chasm, the bight of the
rope fell into it, he placed himself across the opening; then,
suspending himself by his hind feet, with a leg on each side, he
dropped his head and most part of his body into the chasm, and, with a
foot applied to each side of the neck, attempted, for some minutes, to
push the rope over his head. Finding this scheme ineffectual, he
removed to the main ice, and, running with great impetuosity from the
ship, gave a remarkable pull on the rope; then, going backwards a few
steps, he repeated the jerk. At length, after repeated attempts to
escape this way, every failure of which he announced by a significant
growl, he yielded himself to hard necessity, and lay down on the ice in
angry and sullen silence.
Like the brown and black bear, polar bears are animals capable of great
fierceness. Brentz, in his voyage in search of the north-east passage
to China, had horrid proofs of their ferocity in the Island of Nova
Zembla, where they attacked his seamen, seizing them in their mouth,
carrying them off with the utmost ease, and devouring them even in
sight of their comrades.
About twenty years ago, the crew of a boat belonging to a ship in the
whale fishery, shot at a bear some little distance off, and wounded
him. The animal immediately set up a dreadful howl, and scampered along
the ice towards the boat. Before he reached it, he had received a
second wound. This increased his fury, and he presently plunged into
the water, and swam to the boat; and, in his attempt to board it, he
placed one of his fore paws upon the gunwale, and would have gained his
point, had not one of the sailors seized a hatchet and cut it off. Even
this had not the effect of damping his courage; for he followed the
boat till it reached the ship, from whence several shots were fired at
him, which hit, but did not mortally wound him: he approached the
vessel, and ascended the deck, where, from his dreadful fury, he spread
such consternation, that all the crew fled to the shrouds, and he was
in the act of pursuing them thither, when an effective shot laid him
dead on the deck.