a good ed, and

omen; if not, they consider that the spirit of the beast is not appeasthat the chase of the next year will be unfortunate."

In the Tower Menagerie of London, there is a very tame and playful

American bear, which was presented to it in 1824. He was originally in the same den with the hyana, and, except at feeding times, was on good terms with his companion. A piece of meat, however, would occasionally produce a temporary dissension between them; in which the hyaena, though the smallest of the two, had usually the upper hand. On such occasions, the defeated bear would moan most piteously, in a tone somewhat like a sheep bleating, while the hyæna devoured the remainder of his dinner.*

THE polar bear is distinguished by his tremendous ferocity. It sometimes reaches the length of twelve feet. Its head and neck are more

*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 saw-mill, 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 his appetite on the man's dinner. After a little while, the saw approached near enough to interfere with the feathers 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.

1 Ursus maritimus, LIN.

lengthened than that of the brown bear, and the body is longer in proportion to its bulk. In the Polar seas it may literally be said to swarm. There, it is seen not only on the land and fixed ice, but on floating ice several leagues out at sea. In the latter manner, white bears are sometimes conveyed to Iceland, where they are so much dreaded by the inhabitants that a crusade is immediately commenced against them. At sea, the food of this animal is fish, seals, and the carcases of whales; on land, it preys upon deer and other animals, and will eat various kinds of berries. In winter, it beds itself deeply under the snow or eminences of ice, and awaits, in a torpid state, the return of the sun. It suffers exceedingly when exposed to great heat.

Of the ferocity of the Polar bear, Barentz gives a striking proof. In Nova Zembla they attacked his sailors, carried them off in their mouths with the utmost facility, and devoured them in sight of their comrades. A few years ago, some sailors in a boat, fired at and wounded one. In spite of his receiving another shot, he swam after the boat, and endeavored to climb into it. One of his feet was cut off with a hatchet, but he still pursued the aggressors to the ship. Numerous additional wounds did not check his fury; mutilated as he was, he ascended the ship's side, drove the sailors into the shrouds, and was following them thither, when a mortal shot stretched him dead on the deck.

But even this formidable animal is not without its good qualities. It is a faithful mate and an affectionate parent. Hearne tells us that, at certain seasons of the year, the males are so much attached to their mates, that he has often seen one of them, on a female being killed, come and put his paws over her, and rather suffer himself to be shot than abandon her.

"While the Carcase frigate, which went out some years ago to make discoveries towards 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 walrus that the crew had killed a few days before; which had been set on fire, and 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 of the flames part of the flesh of the walrus that remained unconsumed, and ate it voraciously. The crew from the ship threw upon the ice great lumps of the flesh of the sea horse, which they had still remaining. These the old bear fetched away singly, laid every lump before her cubs as she brought it, and dividing it, gave to each a share, reserving but a small portion to herself. As she was fetching away the last piece, the sailors levelled their muskets at the cubs, and shot them both dead; and in her retreat they wounded the dam, but not mortally. It would have drawn tears of pity from any but unfeeling minds, to have marked the affectionate concern ex

pressed by this poor beast in the last moments of her expiring young ones. Though she was herself dreadfully wounded, and could but just crawl to the place where they lay, she carried the lump of flesh she had fetched away, as she had done others before, tore it in pieces and laid it before them; and when she saw that they refused to eat, she laid her paws first upon one and then upon the other, and endeavored to raise them up. When she found she could not stir them, she went off, and when she had got to some distance, she looked back and moaned. Finding this to no purpose, 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 her, she returned to them again; and, with signs of inexpressible fondness, went round pawing them and moaning. Finding at last that they were cold and lifeless, she raised her head towards the ship, and uttered a growl of despair, which the murderers returned with a volley of musket balls. She fell between her cubs, and died licking their wounds." Mr Scoresby mentions a singular circumstance with respect to a part of this animal. "The liver, I may observe, as a curious fact," says he, "is hurtful, and even deleterious; while the flesh and liver of the seal, on which it chiefly feeds, are nourishing and palatable. Sailors who have inadvertently eaten the liver of bears, have almost always been sick after it: some have actually died; and the effects on others has been to cause the skin to peal off their bodies. This is, perhaps, almost the only instance known of any part of the flesh of a quadruped proving unwholesome."

THIS animal, which was first brought from India about forty years ago, was at first misnamed the five-fingered, or ursine sloth. It has, however, Ursus labiatus, DESM..

nothing in common with the family of the sloths, but is a genuine bear. This curious quadruped is said to have been brought from the interior part of Bengal, where it burrows in the ground. It is covered with black, shaggy hair, which on the back is twelve inches long, where it divides and forms a kind of bunch. The hair on its head is short, and the snout is of a yellowish white. The tail is so short as to be scarcely visible. Its lips are thin and very long, and furnished with muscles, by which it can protrude them in a most singular manner. Its legs and feet resemble those of the common bear, and on each foot it has five long, crooked, white claws, which it uses either together or separately, like fingers to break its food, and convey it to the mouth. It has no cutting teeth, but two very strong canine teeth, and six grinders in each jaw.

It is a gentle but sluggish animal, and feeds on bread, fruit, nuts, honey, or fat; but refuses roots, and the lean and muscular parts of flesh. In general, its motions are slow and languid; but when disturbed or irritated, appears rather lively, and utters a kind of short, abrupt roar.

it

In one point, this native of Borneo differs strikingly from the other bears. Its head, instead of being flattened, is nearly hemispherical above, rising in a strong arch, immediately behind its obtuse and gradually attenuated nose. Its mouth is very expansible, and has a long, narrow, extensile tongue, which the owner can protrude nearly a foot, and then curve spirally inwards; a process which it frequently performs. The claws are very long,

firmly arched, tapering gradually to the point, and well calculated for digging the earth. Its short, glistening fur, rather rigid, yet soft to the touch, is a fine jet black on the body, head, and extremities. The muzzle is of a yellowish brown, and the anterior part of the neck has a large, broad patch, of a more bright and nearly orange tint, and an irregular quadrangular form, deeply notched above. From the muzzle to the tail, one individual measured three feet nine inches.

"It arrived in this country," says the author of the 'Tower Menagerie,' "about four years ago; and formed, until lately, one of the most attractive and interesting spectacles, among the animals confined in the menagerie. It was brought from Borneo when very young, and during its passage was the constant associate of a monkey, and of several other young animals. It was thus domesticated in early life, and its manners in confinement greatly resembled those of the Malayan bear, observed by Sir Stamford Raffles, to which it was probably not inferior in sagacity or intellect. It could rest entirely on its posterior feet, and could even raise itself without difficulty, to a nearly erect posture; but was more generally seen in a sitting attitude at the door of its apartment, eagerly surveying the visiters, and attracting their attention by the uncouthness of its form, and the singularity of its motions. When a morsel of bread or cake was held at a small distance beyond its reach, it would thrust forward its upper lip as a proboscis, in a most ludicrous manner, at the same time making use of its paws to seize the object. After obtaining it and filling its mouth, it would place the remainder with great calmness on its posterior feet, and bring it in successive portions to its mouth. When craving for food, and also while consuming it, it emitted a coarse, but not unpleasant, whining sound, accompanied by a low, grunting noise; but if teased at this time, it would suddenly raise its voice to a harsh, grating tone. It was excessively voracious, and appeared disposed to eat almost without cessation; a propensity which finally cost it its life, having overgorged itself at breakfast one morning in the summer, during the hot weather, and dying within ten minutes afterwards. On seeing its keeper, it would often place itself in a variety of attitudes, to court his attention and caresses, extending its nose and anterior feet, or, suddenly turning round, exposing its back and waiting for several minutes in this posture with its head placed on the ground. It delighted in being patted and rubbed, even by strangers; but violently resented abuse and ill treatment. Its principal food was bread.”

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