THE BEAR, 14)

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.”

The polar bear displays a great love for its young and
many pathetic stories are told of its rage and grief at
the loss of them. The following is from Captain Brown’s
“ Anecdotes of Animals.” “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 increase their 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.”

The Black The Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) is about

Bear. four and a half feet long and three feet high.
He has long feet terminating in five claws each. His body
is short with longish legs, and he has a large head, with small
eyes, and a sharp nose. He has long, soft and woolly hair.
His food is chiefly fruit, such as acorns, chestnuts, grapes,