The Eddy current., 1898-10-22
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Z ...Cbe Great polar Bear. 8
= a Few Facts About the Life and Habits of the =
Seal Eater of the Northern Shows.
Observation-Disclosures

Tho aquatic member of the bear fam.
ily. the Thalassarctos marlumus %
naturalieis. ls also the strongest. lnrg
est and most interesting species. wrlics'
General A. W. Grrely. OF the United
statos Army. while iis shulning gait
leaves ita broad trails along tho north
ern continental coasts of Asia and
America set this anlmal'e favorite
hunting fields are rather among the
drifting ice-nelds or open water-hDlos
Of the Parry spItzberger and Franz
josef nrchlpelagoes and the bordering
Islands of continental Greenland
The polar bear is an animal Of slrlk-
inE contrasts The snowy Wilderness 0f
ita FUR L. sharply set on by the black
moss of its snout aud claws. u.s. short
rounded ears make ils long head and
neck most pronounced. ita Tiny tail
seems a most ludrlcous ending Of 10
immense launches. which are IN keep
ing only with the enormous teeth and
ponderous claws. Some of those con-
trasts are but faint In the specimens
ih captivity. whose abnormal methods
of life naturally modify their character
iatios
The most northern latitude In which
the track OF bear has been observed
Is that noted Ny Lieutenant lockwood.
0f my expedition. IN eighty-thfee de-
grees. three minutes north. near Cape
Benet and strangely enough this ami
NAL was travelling 10 the northeast
Occasionally polar bear. luxurinting
In rich hunting Afforded by an Ice peal.
h carried by drlft far into southern lat
itudes, and thus this species sometimes
reaches the coasts Of Labrador and the
southern shores Of Hudson BAY or
meets rs fate IN the North Atlantic as
the dlslntegratlng foes finally dissolve
II wac long asserted that these bears
could swim neither very FAR nor fast
an opinion arising. doubtless. from tho
awkwardnoss that marks their move
monts-but II Is now hold that the
animal is almost amphlblOus Payer
says that four men. on one occasion,
could not pull a boat fnst enough 20
catch either ot two swimming bears.
Captain Sabine while with parry's cx-
pedlilon. midway In Barrow Strait. for-
~ miles wide saw bear swimming
strongly. no Ice was visible from the
ship and the circumstances seemed 10
indicate that the animal was crossing
the strait from shore 10 shore
No systematic effort appears to have
been made 20 obtain data as to the
largest animals killed by hunicra, but
Sir John Ross measured sixteen bears
Killed In noothla Felix. North America
OF which nine were males and seven
females. The average length from snoul
10 end % tain was nlncty-four inches
for tho males and seventy eight and
seyen-tonths for the females The larg-
ost bear measured one hundred and
one and half inches. and weighed ten
hundred and tWoniy-elght pounds. the
animal being In poor condition
The largest specimen " which have
personal knowledge IL ono Killed In
BerlnF Sea. whose skin D. owned by
Senator william T.. Frye. ~ Maine n
measures nine feet seven inches ok
elusive OF the tain OF two inches. and
its girth around the body Just back OF
the forelega rs ten feet,
Tho largest specimen recorded by a
scientific observer was one of the many
bears killed by the expedition of Leigh
Smith. which was shlpwrccked ON tho
southwest part 81 Franz Josef archi.
pelago. lSSi2. Dr. W H. Ncale. Tho
naturalist Of the expedition. says that
some of the bears were very large. that
one measured eleven feet exclusive o'
the tail There is then. no rca8onabl,
ground 20 question the yeraclty OF IA,
statement of Gerit DE Veer. a compan.
ion of Bareniz IN his third voyage. thai
there was killed In Nova Zembla. IN
1881 bear which was twelve fce'
lonr possibly including tho tail
while the polar bear o. by prefer
once non-ycgetarlan. living upon Asi
and the flesh ~ the soal. when be- cat
procure A. nevertheless be- viii occl
Hionally eat eouweods. and IN cases n
Necessity has been known 10 suhslI
for some time on land vegetation Nor
donskiold relates that Doctor Thee
6hot at Port Dickson an oxocodlngll
TAT old bear which had evidently bcei
living on grass for some tlmo TIT
skill and caution with which bruli
does hh sea-huntlng are described bl
the Eskimoa a8 follows The bea
slips quietly into the water and swim
~ the leeWard of the seal. from whence