Bruin Part 20

If any quadruped has ever reached the pole, it is the polar bear; and it is quite probable that his range extends to this remarkable point on the earth's surface. Most certainly it may, if we suppose that there is open water around the pole--a supposition that, by a.n.a.logical reasoning, may be proved to be correct. The daring Parry found white bears at 82 degrees; and there is no reason why they should not traverse the intervening zone of 500 odd miles, almost as easily as the fowls of the air or the fish of the sea. No doubt there are polar bears around the pole; though it may be a.s.sumed for certain that none of them ever attempts to "swarm" up it, as the white bear is not the best climber of his kind. The female of the polar bear is not so much addicted to a maritime life as her liege lord. The former, unless when barren, keeps upon the land; and it is upon the land that she brings forth her young.

When pregnant, she wanders off to some distance from the sh.o.r.e; and choosing her bed, she lies down, goes to sleep, and there remains until spring. She does not, like other hybernating bears, seek out a cave or hollow tree; for in the desolate land she inhabits, ofttimes neither one nor the other could be found. She merely waits for the setting-in of a great snow-storm--which her instinct warns her of--and then, stretching herself under the lee of a rock--or other inequality, where the snow will be likely to form a deep drift--she remains motionless till it has "smoored" her quite up, often covering her body to the depth of several feet. There she remains throughout the winter, completely motionless, and apparently in a state of torpor. The heat of her body thawing the snow that comes immediately in contact with it, together with some warmth from her limited breathing, in time enlarges the s.p.a.ce around her, so that she reclines inside a sort of icy sh.e.l.l. It is fortunate that circ.u.mstances provide her with this extra room: since in due course of time she will stand in need of it for the company she expects.

And in process of time it is called into use. When the spring sun begins to melt the snow outside, the bear becomes a mother, and a brace of little white cubs make their appearance, each about as big as a rabbit.

The mother does not immediately lead them forth from their snowy chamber; but continues to suckle them there until they are of the size of Arctic foxes, and ready to take the road. Then she makes an effort, breaks through the icy crust that forms the dome of her dwelling, and commences her journey towards the sea.

There are times when the snow around her has become so firmly caked, that, with her strength exhausted by the suckling of her cubs, the bear is unable to break through it. In a case of this kind, she is compelled to remain in an involuntary durance--until the sun gradually melts the ice around her and sets her free. Then she issues from her prolonged imprisonment, only the shadow of her former self, and scarce able to keep her feet.

The Northern Indians and Eskimos capture hundreds of these hybernating bears every season--taking both them and their cubs at the same time.

They find the retreat in various ways: sometimes by their dogs sc.r.a.ping to get into it, and sometimes by observing the white h.o.a.r that hangs over a little hole which the warmth of the bear's breath has kept open in the snow.

The hunters, having ascertained the exact position of the animal's body, either dig from above, and spear the old she in her bed; or they make a tunnel in a horizontal direction, and, getting a noose around the head or one of the paws of the bear, drag her forth in that way.

To give an account of the many interesting habits peculiar to the polar bear--with others which this species shares in common with the Bruin family--would require a volume to itself. These habits are well described by many writers of veracity,--such as Lyon, Hearne, Richardson, and a long array of other Arctic explorers. It is therefore unnecessary to dwell on them here--where we have only s.p.a.ce to narrate an adventure which occurred to our young bear-hunters, while procuring the skin of this interesting quadruped.

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.

THE OLD SHE SURROUNDED.

They had been for some days on the lookout for a white bear; and had made several excursions from the Port--going as far as the mouth of the Seal river, which runs into Hudson's Bay a little farther to the north.

On all these excursions they had been unsuccessful; for, although they had several times come upon the track of the bears, and had even seen them at a distance, they were unable in a single instance to get within shot. The difficulty arose from the level nature of the ground, and its being quite dest.i.tute of trees or other cover, under which they might approach the animals. The country around Fort Churchill is of this character--and indeed along the whole western sh.o.r.e of Hudson's Bay, where the soil is a low alluviom, without either rocks or hills. This formation runs landward for about a hundred miles--const.i.tuting a strip of marshy soil, which separates the sea from a parallel limestone formation further inward. Then succeed the primitive rocks, which cover a large interior tract of country, known as the "Barren Grounds."

It is only on the low belt adjoining the coast that the polar bear is found; but the females range quite across to the skirts of the woods which cover the limestone formation. Our hunters therefore knew that either upon the sh.o.r.e itself, or upon the low alluvial tract adjoining it, they would have to search for their game; and to this district they confined their search.

On the fifth day they made a more extended excursion towards the interior. It was now the season of midsummer, when the old males range up the banks of the streams: partly with the design of catching a few freshwater fish, partly to nibble at the sweet berries, but above all to meet the females, who just then, with their half-grown cubs, come coyly seaward to meet their old friends of the previous year, and introduce their offspring to their fathers, who up to this hour have not set eyes on them.

On the present excursion our hunters were more fortunate than before: since they not only witnessed a reunion of this sort, but succeeded in making a capture of the whole family,--father, mother, and cubs.

They had on this occasion gone up the Churchill river, and were ascending a branch stream that runs into the latter, some miles above the fort. Their mode of travelling was in a birch-bark canoe: for horses are almost unknown in the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company, excepting in those parts of it that consist of prairie. Throughout most of this region the only means of travelling is by canoes and boats, which are managed by men who follow it as a calling, and who are styled "voyageurs." They are nearly all of Canadian origin--many of them half-breeds, and extremely skilful in the navigation of the lakes and rivers of this untrodden wilderness. Of course most of them are in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company; and when not actually engaged in "voyaging" do a little hunting and trapping on their own account.

Two of these voyageurs--kindly furnished by the chief factor at the fort--propelled the canoe which carried our young hunters; so that with Pouchskin there were five men in the little craft. This was nothing, however, as birch-bark canoes are used in the Territory of a much larger kind--some that will even carry tons of merchandise and a great many men. Along the bank of the stream into which they had now entered grew a selvage of willows--here and there forming leafy thickets that were impenetrable to the eye; but in other places standing so thinly, that the plains beyond them could be seen out of the canoe.

It was a likely enough place for white bears to be found in--especially at this season, when, as already stated, the old males go inland to meet the females, as well as to indulge in a little vegetable diet, after having confined themselves all the rest of the year to fish and seal-flesh. The voyageurs said that there were many bulbous roots growing in those low meadows of which the bears are very fond; and also _larvae_ of certain insects, found in heaps, like anthills--which by Bruin are esteemed a delicacy of the rarest kind.

For this reason our hunters were regarding the land on both sides of the stream, occasionally standing up in the canoe to reconnoitre over the tops of the willows, or peering through them where they grew thinly.

While pa.s.sing opposite one of the breaks in the willow-grove, a spectacle came before their eyes that caused them to order the canoe to be stopped, and the voyageurs to rest on their oars.

Alexis, who had been upon the lookout, at first did not know what to make of the spectacle: so odd was the grouping of the figures that composed it. He could see a large number of animals of _quadrupedal_ form, but of different colours. Some were nearly white, others brown or reddish-brown, and several were quite black. All appeared to have long s.h.a.ggy hair, c.o.c.ked ears, and large bushy tails. They were not standing at rest, but moving about--now running rapidly from point to point, now leaping up in the air, while some were rus.h.i.+ng round in circles! In all there appeared to be thirty or forty of them; and they covered a s.p.a.ce of ground about as large as a drawing-room floor.

There was a slight haze or mist hanging over the meadow, which hindered Alexis from having a clear view of these animals; and, through the magnifying influence of this sort of atmosphere, they appeared as large as young oxen. Their form, however, was very different from these; and from their pointed ears, long muzzles, and full bunching tails, Alexis could think of nothing else to compare them to but wolves. Their varied colours signified nothing: since in these northern lands there are wolves of many varieties from white to black; and wolves they really were--only magnified by the mist into gigantic proportions.

Alexis had not viewed them long before perceiving that they were not _all_ wolves. In their midst was an animal of a very different kind-- much larger than any of them; but what sort of a creature it was the young hunter could not make out.

Ivan, who had risen to his feet, was equally puzzled to tell.

It appeared as large as half a dozen of the wolves rolled up into one, and was whiter than the whitest of them; but it looked as if it had a hunch upon its back; and altogether more like a shapeless ma.s.s of white bristly hair than a regularly-formed quadruped. It must be an animal, however, as its motions testified; for it was seen to be turning round and round, and at intervals darting forward a pace or two, as if working its way in the direction of the river.

Whatever the animal was, it soon became clear that it was battling with the wolves that surrounded it; and this accounted for the singular movements that these last were making, as well as for their fierce barking and growling that, in confused chorus, filled the air. At intervals, and still louder, could be heard a different sort of cry-- shrill and plaintive, like the hinny of a mule--and evidently proceeding not from the wolves, but from the huge white animal which they were a.s.sailing.

The voyageurs at once recognised the cry.

"A bear!--a sea bear!" exclaimed both together.

One of them stood up, and looked over the plain.

"Yes," said he, confirming his first a.s.sertion. "An old she it is, surrounded by wolves. Ha! it's her cubs they're after! _Voila, messieurs_! She's got one of them on her back. _Enfant de garce_, how the old beldam keeps them at bay! She's fighting her way to the water!"

Guided by the words of the voyageur, our hunters now perceived clearly enough that the white object appearing over the backs of the wolves was neither more nor less than a large bear; and that which they had taken for a hunch upon its shoulders was another bear--a young one, stretched out at full length along the back of its mother, and clinging there, with its forearms clasped around her neck.

It was evident, also, as the voyageur had said, that the old she was endeavouring to work her way towards the river--in hopes, no doubt, of retreating to the water, where she knew the wolves would not dare to follow her. This was evidently her design: for, while they stood watching, she advanced several yards of ground in the direction of the stream.

Notwithstanding the fierce eagerness with which the wolves kept up the attack, they were observing considerable caution in the conflict. They had good reason: since before their eyes was an example of what they might expect, if they came to _very_ close quarters. Upon the ground over which the fight had been raging, three or four of their number were seen lying apparently dead--while others were limping around, or sneaked off with whining cries, licking the wounds they had received from the long claws of their powerful adversary.

It was rather an odd circ.u.mstance for the wolves to have thus attacked a polar bear--an antagonist of which they stand in the utmost dread. The thing, however, was explained by one of the voyageurs; who said that the bear in question was a weak one--half-famished, perhaps, and feeble from having suckled her young; and it was the cubs, and not the old bear herself, that the wolves were after--thinking to separate these from their mother, and so destroy and devour them. Perhaps one of them had been eaten up already: since only one could be seen; and there are always two cubs in a litter.

Our young hunters did not think of staying longer to watch the strange encounter. Their sole idea was to get possession of the bear and her cub; and with this intent they ordered the voyageurs to paddle close up to the sh.o.r.e and land them. As soon as the canoe touched the bank, both leaped out; and, followed by Pouchskin, proceeded towards the scene of the conflict,--the voyageurs remaining in the canoe.

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.

A WHOLE FAMILY CAPTURED.

The party had not gone more than a dozen steps from the water's edge, when a new object coming under their eyes caused them to halt. This was another quadruped that at that moment was seen das.h.i.+ng out from the willows, and rus.h.i.+ng onward towards the scene of the strife. There was no mistaking the character of the creature. Our hunters saw at a glance that it was a large white bear--much larger than the one surrounded by the wolves. It was, in fact, the male; who, wandering in the thicket of willows--or, more likely, lying there asleep--had not till that moment been aware of what was going on, or that his wife and children were in such deadly danger. Perhaps it was the noise that had awaked him; and he was just in the act of hastening forward to the rescue.

With a shuffling gallop he glided over the plain--as fast as a horse could have gone; and in a few seconds he was close up to the scene of the conflict--to which his presence put an end right on the instant.

The wolves, seeing him rush open-mouthed towards them, one and all bolted off; and ran at full speed over the plain, their long tails streaming out behind them. Those that were wounded, however, could not get clear so easily; and the enraged bear, charging upon these, rushed from one to the other, knocking the breath out of each as he came up to it, with a single "pat" of his heavy paws.

In less than ten seconds the ground was quite cleared of the ravenous wolves. Only the dead ones remained on it; while the others, having got off to a safe distance, halted in straggling groups; and, with their tails drooping upon the gra.s.s, stood gazing back with looks of melancholy disappointment.

Bruin, meanwhile, having settled his affair with the wounded wolves, ran up to his mate; and, throwing his paws around her neck, appeared to congratulate her upon her escape! And now did our hunters perceive that there were two cubs instead of one--that which still clung fast upon the mother's back, and another which was seen under her belly, and which she had been equally protecting against the crowd of a.s.sailants that surrounded her.

Both the little fellows--about as large as foxes they were--now perceived that they were out of a danger--which, no doubt, they had perfectly comprehended. That upon the shoulders of the dam leaped down to the earth; while the other crawled out "from under;" and both coming together began tumbling about over the gra.s.s, and rolling over one another in play, the parents watching with interest their uncouth gambols.

Notwithstanding the well-known ferocity of these animals, there was something so tender in the spectacle, that our hunters hesitated about advancing. Alexis, in particular, whose disposition was a shade more gentle than that of his companions, felt certain qualms of compa.s.sion, as he looked upon this exhibition of feelings and affections that appeared almost human. Ivan was even touched; and certainly neither he nor his brother would have slain these creatures out of mere wanton sport. They would not have thought of such a thing under ordinary circ.u.mstances; and it was only from the necessity they were under of procuring the skin that they thought of it at all. Perhaps they would even have pa.s.sed this group; and taken their chances of finding another, that might make a less powerful appeal to their compa.s.sion; but in this they were overruled by Pouchskin. The old grenadier was afflicted by no such tender sentiments; and throwing aside all scruple, before his young masters could interfere to prevent him, he advanced a few paces forward, and discharged his fusil, broadside at the biggest of the bears.

Whether he hit the bear or not, was not then known. Certain it was that he in no way crippled the animal; for, as soon as the smoke had cleared out of his eyes, he saw the huge quadruped part from the side of his mate, and come charging down upon him.

Pouchskin hesitated for a moment whether to withstand the attack, and had drawn his knife to be ready; but the formidable appearance of the antagonist, his immense size, and fierce aspect, admonished Pouchskin that in this case discretion might be the better part of valour, and he yielded to the suggestion. Indeed, the two voyageurs in the canoe were already shouting to all three to run for it--warning them of the danger they were in by the most earnest speech and gesture.

Ivan and Alexis stood their ground till Pouchskin had returned to where they were, and then both fired upon the bear. They may have hit him or not; but the huge monster showed no sign, and only appeared to charge forward the faster.

All three together now ran for the boat. It was their only refuge; for had it been a trial of speed, and much ground to go over, the bear would certainly have overtaken them; and a few wipes from his paw would have ended the life of one or the other--perhaps of the whole trio.

It was fortunate they had the boat to flee to: else Pouchskin's imprudence, in provoking the bear, might have led to a fatal termination.