Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-08-14

The bears wandering continually during
the night, must needs have hard struggle
to live During the summer, the seals
up on the ice, and are there easily caught,
'a'ut in the winter they only resort to the
tcracks to breathe, and in doing so, barely
put their noses above water, so that they
are captured with difficulty. Driven to
, desperation, by hunger, the bears will
sometimes invade the haunts of men, in
search of food which their quick sense has
detected
| had an adventure, about this time,
which shows that the Polar bear is not so
ferocious as is generally supposed indeed
the, have never been known to attack
man, except when hotly pursued and driv-
en- to close quarters. Strolling one day,
along the shore, | was observing with in
terest, the effect of the recent spring tides
upon the ice-foot, when rounding a point
of land, suddenly found myself confronted
in the faint moonlight by an enormous bear.
He had just sprung down from the land
ice, and was meeting me at full trot
We caught sight of each other at the same
instant Being without rifle or other
means of defense, | wheeled suddenly to-
ward the ship, with, fancy, much the same
reflections about discretion and valor as i.
those which crossed the mind of old Jack
Falstatf when the Douglass set upon him
but finding, after few lengthy strides,
that | was not gobbled up, [ looked back
over my shoulder, when, as much to my
surprise as qualification, | saw the bear
tearing away toward the open water with
4 celerity which left no doubt as to the
state of his mind. L suppose it would be
lificult to determine which was the most
frightened-the bear or l.
The troops of foxes about us were quite
tame; but they have been cured of their
familiarity BY the lessons learned of the
hunters, and have to be approached with
ldroitness OF both the blue and white
varieties had living specimens in my
cabin. These two varieties of the fox,
Notwithstanding their many points of resem-
olance, are evidently distinct species. L
have not known them to mix, the coat of
each preserving its distinctive hue, that of
the blue fox varying merely in distinctive
shade, while the white changes only from
oure white to slightly yellowish tinge.
Their skins are much sought after by the
tTappeTS Vi EoOutu uTttHidiu. NHtTc llit
animals are rare, for the fur commands
fabulous price in the Copenhagen market.
The tough, nearly hairless hides of the
Great Sea Lions, which are about an inch
thick, had singularly ironplated look about
them, peculiarly suggestive OF defense;
while their huge tusks, which they brand
shed with an appearance of strength that
their awkwardness did not diminish looked
very formidable weapons of offense if ap-
plied to a boats planking or the human
| ribs, if one should happen to find himself
houndering in the sea among the thick
skinned brutes. To complete the hideous-
| ness of facial expression which the tusks
| rendered formidable enough in appearance,
| nature had endowed them with fiat noses,
which were covered all over with stiff whisk-
ers, looking much like porcupine quills,
md extending up to the edge of pair of
| tapping nostrils The use of these whisk-
ars is as obscure as that of the tusks;
| though it is probable that the latter may
| De as we'll weapons of offense and defense
is well as for the more useful purpose of
| yrubbing up from the bottom of the sea the
| mullocks which constitute their principal
| food There were two old bulls in the
herd who appeared to be dividing their
| time between sleeping and jamming their
tusks into each others faces, although they
appeared to treat the matter with perfect
| Indifference, as they did not appear to
make any impression on each others thick
hides. As we approached, these fellows
neither of which could have been less than
sixteen feet long, nor smaller in girth than
a hogshead-raised their heads, and after
taking leisurely survey of Us, seemed to
think us unworthy of further notice; and,
then punching each other again in the face,
fell asleep once more.-Dr. Hayes Open
Polar Sea.