He lives upon seals both small and large, walrus calves, and dead whales, and goes ashore for roots and plants to vary his diet.
The Eskimos sometimes hunt him on the icefloes with their dogs and it makes exciting sport, in which the dogs often come to grief. When cornered or wounded, the white Czar is a terrible fighter.
This bear, who is sometimes seen in zoos is a tall lank fellow and always snow white. His coat never changes its color. Many of the arctic animals and birds are snow white to correspond with the snowfields.
The specimen of Thalarctos Maritimus which Eiseeyou met on that cold arctic morning, afterwards measured fifty inches at the shoulders and seven feet in length. His weight was probably about six hundred pounds. When we add to this the fact that he is as quick as a cat, and can strike a blow that will crush a man's skull, it will readily be seen that he is no mean adversary.
White Ursus is longlegged and slab sided, tall at the shoulders and with a rather snaky head. His jaws are very powerful and his claws long and terrible. His feet are covered with hair on the bottom, so his track is very large.
For three hours after leaving his friends all went well with Eiseeyou. He located two small herds of musk ox and was well pleased with his observations.
Presently Eiseeyou spied another of those strange rocky mountains rising abruptly from the barrens. It was just such a hill as that upon which they had made their kill.
As it afforded a good lookout, he began slowly ascending. Once at the top he would be able to see all the Omingmongs in five miles.