12
Bears.
N A T U R A L H t S T O R Y sf N O R W A f l
■ In warm weather they are tormented with a fort of fly,- yfoich
lays its eg^s uftder thek? Ikin,- whkfo produces a worft, which
eats itfelf out, and thfen is- transformed iutoa'largefly, according
to Hr. de la Morttayand Liftnatns^s -©bfenrations. More relating
to their nature and -manner, and. the Finlaps ©economy with
thern^ may he found itl Mr. Peder Hogferorri’s A-ecomit of Lap-
marck, p; 24$, & fcq,
$ E C T. VII.
From ufefiil creatures I proceed to the hurtful,. which- we call
•here by die name of Udyr’j and T-foaH firli treat of jthe Biorn,
or Bears $ the. male of'which, according to die peafent’s dialect,
ia called Bamfin, and the She-bear, Biragfen.
Theyiate.found ail over the Country ©f Norway,- but are moft
frequent ip: the. idiocefe of Bergfen and Tronheim : there are here
two Ipecies of thenij viz. the Hefte Biorn, of Horfe-bear, the
ldrgfeft j and the Myre Biorn, the loaft *. Both of thefe are a
fierce, ravenous, ft rang, and cunning creature 5 the countryman
allows them too much, and himfelf too little, by giving them
the wit of two, and ftrength of feven men. The colour ofo the
hair of the Norvegian Bear is either dark, or a light brown j
fcxdfitimes filyer grey at the ends, which is the beautifullcft.
Their head is: femething like a bog’s, and they have much: fach
3 fcout. They have finall eyes, foott ears, a wide fwallow, and
ftrong loins ; but their greateft ftrength is m their fore-legs and
paWs. Oil my annual vifitation-journies, which have moftly
®®tributed to my coltefiion for this work, I have been ufed t©
ftop By the way, and amufe myfelf with the farmers* entering
into' ConvOrfetion with them 'Concerning the properties of various
* .0 1 , "WormjHS gives three" rafts o f -.Bears ict Norway i ^ In I'fprvegia toa -genera
urfcftjm obfervarunt* pfttaAm-'maxitmrfaquGd^015 pSne Hfgrtmi fedprolvuffr eft,
adeo. ijocuujn Ait/rgliquit genera, gratninibus enjm & ar!> > 1 'K- li,
illis. Graefe-dyr ypeatuf, & in lqeis dpfertis & ly1vi$tyaftiIEmis,ftabulari.-, Sequi 'nucibus
^^an'diWift 'feglnaire foifet, aKraqUafli ingruat' h terns.' "SecMputrtgenus'minu's eft'Be
njgMus, valrmvonim equis aliifqtie animialibus', Stafeftiun, Ild-gters DyryoGani: vbfadffi-
ipjitn animal., quo'd licet graminibus .& fol-iis etiam vefcatur, -cirfca anijatnnum tafnen
armentis. inficuatur. Tertium minimum nocuurrr tamen Myre Biorn vocant, quod
formicis' de]@fte'tiir earilrnfcjue btetos'evertere fciefttfis UP potiatur.1 • Nos qbarturn genus
addendum cenfemus alborum ,nempe urforum, quod, aquaticum yel appli^bium. eft
plfcibus..gaude&s,: . 1Grbenlandia1 pCculiare/Muleuftf-^pritiiarii p, 318.:,:J
TKfe la'ft left, 1; e.- the white1 'Bearj is 'fa-id to be vSfy fi&ce and raveridiisl 1 Thortn.'
Torf that Anho r j c f , ’one of thpfe killed atfd JdeVptired eight men. before they,
«^urd'^ftfqy-him, N. !P. IV, L. IX. p. - 'f y g 1?ri'd.. Martens .gives an account id his
Spipbefg Travels, -cap. iv. p. 73, that thefe -white Bears have very long hair Hanging
dbvfor; a!fe i&r'gpt, and in the lhape o f their limbi tlfler fotnewhat from the reft of 'the
kind. They float about Ct -fe^ Upon gfebt 'flakes'of ice, 'and fomttimes land in countries
they dpft^t belong to.
beafts,
^ P P M L H I S T O R Y of N O R W A Y . »5
beaft,. • birds: and ;fifties, . foiind . among them : ' but tha’
iportfmen and anglers hiftories are liable to be doubted, and
ought not to be admitted as authentiek, without* very full and
further proofq yet I have, from many corroborating accounts,
^siferei, among thefe people lèverai credible fa&s, as will be lèen
.fo the following pagps. 1
The Beak, which occaïîoned this Ihort digrelfion, is laid to carry
.her young but a month ; :and therefore, like the dog-feind, which
allô haftes foE fhe birth,; 'brings forth two or three in number,
blind1 and naked, ahdfriiall as rniieë, each in form like a mere
lump j which the nioflier co&tlnually licks, till it expands or
unfolds itfel'f, according to the proverb, Lambehdo lient ■ urfo
catulos. Then they fey foe holds them in her paws to her breaft,
to warm " them, ackording to the mànner of birds, which 01.
Magnus has alfoobferved-j but feme are of opinion it. is to give
them fuck, as their paps . ftahd pretty high on the fore-part of
their body. : While thefe young ones are bringing up it is moft
dangerous. to meet the old ones^ for then they will attack-, whilli
at other times they are only upon the defenfive againft, mankind,
excepting it be a pregnant, woman, whofe condition they know by
feent or-by inftiriâ, and with all thêir might will ftnve to get
the foetus, which is a delicious rïxorlèl to them, if it happens to
be a male. A certain clergyman that relatèd this to me, would
not believe it himfclf, till he:few mi experiment with a young
and tame Bear, which he had fattened in his yard $ ; and till then
had not perceived that he had been guilty of any mifchief:
but one time leading a woman with ehild almoft up to him, hé
began to make an .uncommon noife j he1 roared, and tore about
him fo, that they were obliged to fooot him inftantly, A clergy^
man’s wife alia,, in Sogne-Fiorden, related to me the danger that
her hufoand found 'her ih (foe being. aHo big with child). He
returning home on a Summer’s evening, few a Bear trying and
taking all the pains he could to break open the door of her bedchamber,.
where foe lay in the greateft anguifo, hearing him
roaring and jumpirtg’iir vain up at thé window, which fortunately
was too high from the ground for him. From this it is to be
obferved, that if any of thofe foepherdeffes, or Giate-Tous, which
I have mentioned, who are a whole Summer in the country in
their feeterhut, lofes her virtue, and becomes pregnant, foe then
endangers her life, as weitas the child’s doubly.
Otherwife thefe poor creatures are fo hardy and intrepid,
that they will ofteh purfue à Bear, hollowing, with fticks in
their hands, and hunt him till he leaves his prey behind, and
P a r t II. E which
Particularities
of the Bear.
Dangerous
time of meeting
the Bear.