Home › Contents › Polar Bears Capturing a Seal

Polar Bears Capturing a Seal

(117) last piece, the crew levelled their muskets attempted to escape. Finding itself, at the cubs, and shot them both dead; at however, detained by the rope, it endeavthe same time wounding the dam in her ored to disengage itself in the following retreat, but not mortally. Though she ingenious way: near the edge of the floe could but just crawl to the place where was a crack in the ice, of considerable they lay, she carried the lump of flesh she length, but only eighteen inches or two had fetched away, tore it in pieces, and feet wide, and three or four feet deep. laid it down before them.

Extraordinary Brute Affection.

To this spot the Bear returned; and when, on crossing the chasm, the bight of the rope fell into it, he placed himself When she saw they refused to eat, she laid her paws first on the one and then across the opening; then, suspending on the other, and endeavored to raise himself by the hind feet, with a leg on them up, making at the same time the each side, he dropped his head and most most pitiable moans. Finding she could of his body into the chasm, and, with a not stir them she went off, and, when she foot applied to each side of the neck, had got to some distance, looked back attempted, for some minutes, to push the and moaned; and that not availing to rope over his head. Finding this scheme entice them, she returned, and smelling ineffectual, he removed to the main ice, round them, began to lick their wounds. and, running with great impetuosity from She went off a second time as before, and the ship, gave a determined pull at the having crawled a few paces, looked again rope; then going backwards a few steps, behind her, and for some time stood he repeated the jerk. At length, after moaning. But still, her cubs not rising renewed attempts to escape this wayto follow, she returned to them anew, and every failure of which he announced by a with signs of indescribable fondness went significant growl-he yielded himself to round pawing them successively. Find- his hard necessity, and lay down. ing at last that they were motionless and Not Easily Caught. cold, she raised her head and growled The captain of a whaler, being anxious furiously. A volley of musket balls was to procure a Bear without wounding the now discharged-she fell between her skin, made trial of the stratagem of laycubs, and died licking their wounds. ing the noose of a rope in the snow, and A female Bear, with two cubs, ap- placing a piece of the carcase of a whale proached the ship Captain Scoresby com- within it. A Bear, ranging the neighbormanded, and was shot. The cubs, not ing ice, was soon enticed to the spot by attempting to escape, were taken alive. the smell of burning meat. He per- These animals, though at first evidently ceived the bait, approached, and seized it. very unhappy, became, at length, in some in his mouth; but his foot, at the same measure, reconciled to their situation, moment, by a jerk of the rope being enand, being tolerably tame, were allowed tangled in the noose, he pushed it off occasionally to go at large about the deck. with the adjoining paw and deliberately While the ship was moored to a floe, a retired. After having eaten the piece he few days after they were taken, one of carried away with him he returned. The them, having a rope fastened round its noose, with another piece of flesh, being neck, was thrown overboard. It imme- then replaced, he pushed the rope aside, diately swam to the ice, got upon it, and and again walked triumphantly off with MOUR X