It is hard to know whether to class the Polar bear among land animals or sea animals. He is a capital swimmer, and can make headway in the waves at the rate of three miles an hour. Dr. Hayes found one swimming in the open ocean, completely beyond sight of land or ice; evidently he had been carried to sea on some floe which had crumbled beneath him. The Esquimaux hunt them with dogs which are trained to attract their attention in front, till the hunter can plunge his lance into their side. A skilful man can thus often kill a bear at a single blow, but it is no rare thing for him to have to leave his lance sticking in the animal’s side to take refuge in flight. A very ingenious way, which is sometimes tried, is to take a very stiff piece of whalebone, some two inches wide and four feet long. This is with much labor coiled into a narrow space and then covered with blubber, which being frozen holds the whalebone in its place. Approaching a bear they hurl a spear at him, and when he turns to pursue they drop the frozen mass before him, which he speedily swallows. The heat of the body soon dissolves the blubber, and the whalebone being set free springs back with great violence, tearing the stomach in such a way as to cause speedy death. The bear is very fond of seal, and is almost as expert a hunter of them as the Esquimaux. Captain McClintock tells of the adventure of an Esquimau with one of these bears. He was kneeling on the ice and had just drawn up his net in which a seal was caught, when he felt a blow upon the shoulder. Fancying that it was his companion he paid no attention to it, but a heavier blow caused him to turn, when he found beside him an enormous bear, who tearing the seal from the net deliberately proceeded to eat it. Our friend did not dispute his right, but lost no time in seeking more comfortable quarters.
CHAPTER III.
A YOUNG MAN. A YOUNG WOMAN.
The people that inhabit the Arctic Lands are few in number and generally but little above the condition of savages. In stature they are below the medium height, and in appearance far from beautiful. Cleanliness is not one of their virtues. Male and female dress nearly in precisely the same costume, and in winter when they are enveloped in their garments of skins they look vastly like a fur bag surmounted by a head. Nearly all these Northern races are or have been idolaters, and are full of all manner of superstitions. Many are the attempts that have been made to bring Christianity to them, and heroic are the struggles and labors that have been borne, and are to-day being borne by zealous ministers. The pay of the Lapland or Icelandic priest is rarely more than $150 a year, so that his life is one of severe labor. Among the Lapps, who inhabit the Scandinavian Peninsula, the value of a pastor is estimated by the strength of his voice, and consequently his sermons must be delivered in the most sonorous tones if he would not have the contempt and neglect of his people.
In spite of all these resonant teachings, however, the Lapp is very far from forgetting the superstitions that have come down to him from his fathers. One tribe carry about with them on their travels their gods, which are but conical pieces of stone. Sorcerers exist who pretend to see the future and to give answers from the other world, and witches who profess to control the winds. Such was the belief in their powers, that it is said that at one time it was no rare thing for English ships to stop at Archangel to buy a wind. Perhaps the most curious of these superstitions, however, is the reverence with which the bear is regarded. To the Lapp, the bear is the wisest of animals; he can understand every word spoken and hence is always mentioned with respect. It may seem strange that so wise an animal should ever be hunted and slain, but the temptation he offers is a strong one. His furry coat makes the best kind of winter garments, and his flesh is thought a great treat. Therefore the hunter after always begging his pardon for the insult about to be offered hastens to drive his lance into his heart. It is considered most disgraceful to kill a bear when sleeping, so that if bruin meets his death it is always in the open field. When the hunters return home with the body, they are greeted by the women with words of scorn; the entrances to the huts are barred against them, and they are obliged to force an entrance to their own hearths. In this way it is believed the spirit of the bear is appeased. His bones are always buried in the same way, first the head, then the neck, body, etc., for the Lapp believes in the bear’s resurrection and fears his wrath should he come to life and find his bones treated with indignity.