Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1831-10-24

agsousiy projected IN front of his companions and
taking close aim, pierced the monsters skull i'm
mcdiatoly below the cyc-rhe bear. bovoror
no'eiy hilod ms head, and advanced upon thcn,
holding still in his mouth the victim whom ho wa,
Gcvoufihg; out seeing him soon stagger, the throo
rushed ON him with sabre ard bayonet and soon
despatched him. They collected & bestowed decsnt
scpuichre on the mangcd limbs Of their comrades.
while the skin of the animal, 10 feet long became
the prize of the sailor who had fred the s,cce.s
full shot.
The history of the whale fishers records n mum.
Der OF remarkable escapes from the bear. A Dutch
Captain Jonge KEGS, in 1868, undertook with two
canoes 10 attack one and with a lance gave him
such dreadful wound in the belly, that his imme.
date death seemed inevitable Anxious there
fore, not to nurc the skin, KEGS merely fo,lowed
tho animal close till he should drop down dead.
The boar however, having climed a little rock
made spring from the distance of2t feet upon tile
captain, who, taken comparatively by surprise Loaf
hoid OF the lance, and fell beneath the assul,nt
who' placing both paws on his breast, opened two
rows ofstremcndous teeth, and paused for mo-
nen'' as 1t to show him all this horror of his situa
oon. AT this critical instant sailor rushed for
waFo WIN oniya scoop, succeeded in alarming the
monster, who made oft, LEAVING the con,,;p .yi,s
] out the slightest injury.
In 1888, Captain Cook of tho Archanyel wbou
near the coa-: OF Spitzbcrgen, found himself sud
oeniy between the paws ola bear. He INSTANTLY
called on the surgeon who accompanied him 10 Gre
which the latter did with such admirable, n-op,nt;
tude d precision, that he shot tho bea st tbc
head aud delivered the Captain. MIR Hawkins Of fI,s,
.VeiihroPe IN July 1878, having pursued and twco
struck large bear, had raised his lance for thirs
Diow' when the animal sprung forward, seized hin,
by the thigh, and threw him over his head into the
water. fortunately, it used this advantage only tcs
enoct us own escape. Captain Scoresby mentions
d poats crew, which attacked a bear in tho Spitz-
bergen soa; but the animal having succeeded i'm
c"o'ng tho sides of the boat, all the sailors threw
themselves Tor safety into the water, where they
hung by the gunwalc. The victor entered trium
Phantly and took possession eff the BARGE where IL
sat quietly TIL it was shot by another party Tho
same writer mentions the ingenious contrvanoo Of
sailor, who being pursued by one of these erea
| lures threw down successfully his hat, hundker.
chiet, and every other article in his possession
wheh the brute pausing at each gave tho sailor al
! ways 1t certain advantage and enabled him finally
/ to regain the vessel
Though the voracity of the bear is SUCH that he
mas been knownt to feed on his own species, vet ma
| 'erna tenderness is as conspicuous in tho female
as In other inhabitants of the frozen regions
lhcre is no excrtion which she will not m Ike for
the supply OF her progeny. A she bear with hor
two cubs, being pursued by some sailors across
held OF ice, ond finding that neither by example,
nor by Il peculiar voice and action, she could urpe
them to the requisite speed, applied her paws and
pitched them alternately forward. The little cres
lures themselves, as she came up, threw themselves
before her to receive the impulse and thus she and
they all effected their escape.
bears are by no means devoid ofinelligence Their
schemes for entrapping seals, and other animals on
winch they feed, often display considerable ingenu
itY. The manner in which the Polar hear surnr;so.
his victim, is thus described by Captain LYON: On
seeing his intended prey, he gets qutely into tho
water, and swims to eeward position, from
whence by frequent short dives he silently makes
ms approaches, and so arranges his distance, that
at the last dive he comes to the spot where tho
seal is lying. If the poor animal attempt to escape
Dy rolling into the water, he falls into the paws of
the bear; if on the contrary, he lies still his de,
troyer makes a powerful spring, kills him on the
lce and devours him at leisure. Some sailors, en-
deavoringt to catch bear, placed the moose of a
rope under the snow, bated with piece of whales
flesh The bear, however, contrived three success
sve times to push the aside and carry off the
bait unhurt Captain Scoresby had half tanned two
CUBS which used even TO walk the deck; but they
showed themselves restless under this confinement
and finally effected their escape.