, 1885-11-10
PoLAe agAas AunrIna 80.
Their Cievernes. In Catching the Game
Tho 'HitehinE" Approach.

Their Cievernes. In Catching the Game
The 'HitehinE'' Approach.
ltieut. Schwatka in Independent
The polar bear has quite a varied diet,
depending on the season and his where
abouts. Ii near a country where waters
abound in seal, this Is his main susie
nance and the cleyerness he displays
in catching them is something wonder
full. Tor the Eskimo considers the seal the
wariest and slyest game in his country,
and especially in the summer time when
tho polar bear secures the most. When a
seal comes up through the thick ice
on n pleasant summer day. he is
quite wary at first as he stretches
himself for n comfortable snoozc on the
ice so close to his hole that tho slightest
motion of his body will send him over
the slippery edge, and. with n stroke or
two Of his inns and a splash of his tail,
he IS out of sight beneath the ice again.
Having kept q sharp lookout in every
direction for a number Of minutes, and
seeing nothing suspicious, he allows his
heavy head to fall on the ice to take a
nap. but they are short maps indeed,
and every two or three minutes he
raises his head and surveys the sur
rounding for probable mischief. The
polar bear, seeing these movements
IRON the top of some high hammock Of
ice, crawls stealthly on his prey, taking
advantage as much as possible of every
little piece of rough Ice to conceal his
igure, already well protected by his
white color On the ice. Having gotten
~ near as he possibly can by such
methods, he lies Hat on the ice, and
commences ''hitching' himself along by
short, spasmodic actions, watching the
seal keenly all the while.
Should it look up from its slumbors,
tho bear remains as motionless as a
piece Of ice, for which he hopes to be
taken by this ruse, until the seal throws
his head down again, when he once
more commences ''hitehing' forward.
by this series Of very slow and labor
ious creepings, he manages to get within
ten to twenty feet of his victim, when,
watching his best opportunity when the
seal is in the midst of one of his short
slumbcrs, he makes a quick rush, strik-
ing it over the head with his paw, and
grasping it by the neck with his teeth.
A single miscalculation in this scheme,
and the seal is below the ice through
his hole, dashing a mass of spray
in Mr.. Bruins face with his plant tail.
should the seal have crawled up on the
edge Of an ice foe from the water, and
attempt to escape thereto, the bear be-
ing close upon him, the latter will not
hesitate-so the Eskimo say-to dive
after the seal; and, although in the
water the seal is his superior in ae-
tiyity, occasionally the bear is re-
warded with his prey by a lucky snap
of his Jaws.
The polar bear is credited with killing
walrus; but | think he never attacks
any but the smaller mes in a fair com
bat, so much larger is the walrus than
his boarship. The Eskimo claim-and |
thin their story is truo-that the polar
hear has been known to take n stone or
huge piece Of ice in his forepaws, and,
from a favorable attitude-the side Of
an iceberg or tho top of a cliG-hurl
this missile with such certainty as to
alight on n walrus' head, and so stun it
that its capture became easy afterward.