the genus, but takes up its résidence in a different situation, generally under the
declivities of rocks, or at the foot of a bank, where the snow drifts over it to a great
depth ; a small hole, for the admission of fresh air, is constantly observed in the
dome of its den. This, however, has regard solely to the she-Bear, which
retires to her winter-quarters in November, where she lives without food, brings
forth two young about Christmas, and leaves the den in the month of March, when
the cubs are as large as a shepherd’s dog. If perchance her offspring are tired,
they ascend the back of the dam, where they ride secure either in water or ashore.
Though they sometimes go nearly thirty miles from the sea in winter, they always
come down to the shores in the spring with their cubs, where they subsist on seals
and sea-weed. The he-Bear wanders about the marshes and adjacent parts
until November, and then goes out to the sea upon the ice, and preys upon seals.
They are very fat, and though very inoffensive if not meddled with, they are very
fierce when provoked*.’’
Captain Lyons records the Esquimaux account of the hibernation of the Polar
Bear in the following words : “ From Ooyarrakhioo, a most intelligent man, I obtained
an account of the Bear, which is too interesting to be passed over in silence.
At the commencement of winter, the pregnant Bears are very fat, and always
solitary. When a heavy fall of snow sets in, the animal seeks some hollow place
in which she can lie down, and remains quiet, while the snow covers her. Sometimes
she will wait until a quantity of snow has fallen, and then digs herself a
cave: at all events, it seems necessary that she should be covered by and lie
amongst the snow. She now goes to sleep, and does not wake until the spring
sun is pretty high, when she brings forth two cubs. The cave, by this time, has
become much larger, by the effect of the animal’s warmth and breath, so that the
cubs have room enough to move, and they acquire considerable strength by continually
sucking. The dam at length becomes so thin and weak, that it is with
great difficulty she extricates herself, when the sun is powerful enough to throw
a strong glare through the snow which roofs the den.’ The Esquimaux affirm that
during this long confinement the Bear has no evacuations, and is herself the means
of preventing them by stopping all the natural passages with moss, grass, or
earth. The natives find and kill the Bears during their confinement by means of
dogs, which scent them through the snow, and begin scratching and howling very
eagerly. As it would be unsafe to make a large opening, a long trench is cut of
sufficient width to enable a man to look down, and see where the Bear’s head lies,
* Graham, MSS. p. 20.
and he then selects a mortal part into which he thrusts his spear. The old one
being killed, the hole is broken open, and the young cubs may be taken out by
the hand, as, having tasted no blood and never having been at liberty, they are
then very harmless and quiet. Females which are not pregnant roam throughout
the whole winter in the same manner as the males. The coupling time is May.”
The flesh of the Polar Bear is, as stated by Captain Phipps (Lord Mulgrave),
exceedingly coarse. The Russian sailors who wintered in Spitzbergen, found it,
on the other hand, much more agreeable to the taste than the flesh of the reindeer.
I quote this fact here, not to show that there was any thing peculiarly
gross in the taste of the Russians, but to have an opportunity of remarking, that
when people have fed for a long time solely upon lean animal food, the desire for
fat meat becomes so insatiable, that they can consume a large quantity of unmixed,
and even oily fat, without nausea. Our seamen relish the paws of the
Bear, and the Esquimaux prefer its flesh at all times to that of the seal. Instances
are recorded of the liver of the Polar Bear having poisoned people.
The reader who is desirous of fuller accounts of the manners and habits of this
very curious animal will be gratified by turning to Marten’s Spitzbergen, Fabricius’
Fauna Groenlandica, Pennant’s Arctic Zoology, and Scoresby’s Account of the
Arctic Regions. I subjoin some well-authenticated measurements of Polar Bears.
Length from nose to tail . ,
Captain Phipps. Captain Ross.
Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches.
7 1 - 7 10
Captain Lyon.
Feet. Inches.
8 74
„ the shoulder-blade 2 3 . 2 0 0 0
Height at the shoulder . 4 3 . 4 1 4 9
Girth near the fore-legs 7 0 . 6 0 7 11
. „ of the neck 2 1 . 3 2 3 44
Breadth of the fore-paw 0 7 . 0 10 0 10
,, hind-paw 0 0 . 0 81 . 0 0
Length from nostrils to hind head 0 0 . 1 6 ] 6
,, of fore-daws . 0 0 . 0 2è • 0 24
,, of hind-daws 0 0 . 0 I f 0 14
„ of tail . . 0 0 . 0 4 0
Weight . . . 610 lbs. . 1160 lbs. leoo.ibs *.
* Captain Lyon states that his specimen was unusually large.