Bruin Part 2

"Well, brother Ivan!" said Alexis with a smile, "had these orders been issued when the great Swede published his _Systema Naturae_, our task would have been easily accomplished. How far do you suppose our travels need to have extended?"

"I don't quite comprehend you, Alexis. How far?"

"Why, simply into the courtyard of our palace. It would have been only necessary to kill and skin one of the great bears chained by the gate, and that would have fulfilled all the conditions papa has imposed upon us."

"And yet, I don't understand you," rejoined Ivan, with a puzzled look.

"How obtuse you are, brother! Read the letter again; note well its terms!"

"Well, I understand them. We are to travel on, and not come home again till we have killed a bear of every variety known."

"There--just so. Of course papa means every variety known to naturalists,--that is, to the 'scientific world,' as it is termed. Now you comprehend my meaning?"

"Oh, yes!" answered Ivan; "you mean that when Linnaeus published his 'System of Nature,' only our own brown bear of Europe was known to naturalists?"

"Precisely so--only the _ursus arctos_; and consequently we should have had but a very short journey to make, compared with what is before us now. It is true that previous to his death, the Swedish naturalist had made the acquaintance of the 'Polar' bear (_ursus maritimus_); but, strange enough, he regarded this as a mere variety of the _ursus arctos_--an error that one may wonder Linnaeus could have made.

"Oh, they are very different. I could tell that myself. To say nothing of the colour, they are unlike in shape; and, as everybody knows, their habits are very dissimilar. Why, one lives in forests, and feeds chiefly upon fruits; while the other dwells amidst fields of snow and ice, and subsists almost exclusively on flesh, or fish. Variety, indeed! no, they are surely different species."

"Undoubtedly," answered Alexis; "but we shall have an opportunity of comparing them hereafter. For the present we must drop the subject, and find out the route of travel which papa has traced out for us."

"But he has not indicated any route--has he? He gives us permission to go where we please, so long as we get the bearskins, and do not return upon our meridian. We are not to take the _backtrack_--ha! ha! ha!"

"Of course not; but you will find, to avoid doing this, we shall have to go by a definite course, and can take no other."

"By my word! brother, I don't see what you mean. I shall trust all to you: so take me where you please--which way, then?"

"Ah! that has yet to be determined. I cannot tell myself; and it will take me some time before I can make quite sure as to what direction we are to take on starting out--whether east, west, north, or south. It will be necessary for me to examine a map of the world, and trace out the boundaries of the different countries in which King Bruin holds sovereignty."

"Ah! that will be an interesting lesson for me. Here is the map; let me spread it out, and do what I can to a.s.sist you in finding our way."

As Ivan said this, he drew a large travelling map of the world from its case, and opening it out, laid it upon the table. Both the youths sat down; and, running their eyes over the chart, proceeded to discuss the direction which, by the conditions imposed upon them, they must necessarily take.

CHAPTER FIVE.

TRACING THE ROUTE.

"In the first place," said Alexis, "there is the brown bear (_ursus arctos_). Him we might find in many parts of our own country--since he is emphatically our 'Russian bear'; but there is also a black bear, which some naturalists say is a variety of the _ursus arctos_, while others believe it to be a separate species, having given to it the specific name of _ursus niger_--_ursus ator_ it is sometimes called.

Now, whether it be a species or only a variety, we must get a skin of it all the same--since papa has definitely expressed it so."

"This black bear is to be found in our own northern forests, is it not?"

"Yes; it has been observed there; but more frequently in the mountains of Scandinavia: and, as we might wander through all the north of Russia without finding one, our best plan will be to proceed at once to Norway or Lapland. There we shall be certain also of finding the brown bear, and thus kill two birds with one stone."

"Say Lapland: I should like to see the little Laps, but where next? To North America, I suppose?"

"By no means. There is a bear in the Pyrenees, and other mountains of Spain--in the Asturias especially. It is also deemed by most naturalists to be only a variety of the _ursus arctos_, but it is certainly a distinct species; and papa thinks so. Some naturalists would have it that there are only three or four distinct species in the whole world. They might just as well say there was but _one_. I think it better to follow papa's views upon this subject, and regard all those bears which have permanent marks of distinction--whether it be in size, colour, or otherwise--as being so many separate species, however much they may approximate in habits or disposition. Why, some naturalists even call the American black bear merely a variety of our brown; and, as I said a moment ago, Linnaeus himself believed the Polar to be the same species. This is now known to be an erroneous theory. Since papa has given as much time to the study of the bears as perhaps any one else, I shall follow his theory, and regard the Spanish bear (_ursus pyrenaicus_ it is called) a distinct species."

"You propose, then, to go next to Spain, and kill the Spanish bear?"

"We _must_. Having started in a westerly course by going to Lapland, we must keep on in that direction."

"But how about the white bear of the Alps?"

"You mean the _ursus albus_ of Lesson?"

"Yes. To reach the Alps, where it is said to be found, we should have to recross a meridian of longitude?"

"We should, if there were such an animal to be found in the Alps; but there is not. The white bear of Buffon and Lesson (_ursus albus_) was only a mere accidental variety or _albino_ of the brown bear; and papa does not mean that we should collect the skins of such as these. He has said so. Indeed, Ivan, were that task imposed on us, we should both be old men before we could complete it, and return home again. It is only the skins of the _permanent_ varieties we are to procure, and therefore the _ursus albus_ is scratched out of our list."

"Out with him then! where go we next? To North America, then no doubt?"

"No."

"Perhaps to Africa?"

"No."

"Are there no bears in Africa?"

"That is a disputed point among writers, and has been so since the days of Pliny. Bears are mentioned as having been exhibited in the Roman circus, under the name of _Numidian_ bears; and Herodotus, Virgil, Juvenal, and Martial all mention _Libyan_ bears in their writings.

Pliny, however, stoutly denies that there were any of these animals in Africa; but it must be remembered that he equally denies that stags, goats, and boars existed on the African continent: therefore his statement about the non-existence of the Numidian bears is not worth a straw. Strange enough, the point is as much disputed now as in the days of Pliny. The English traveller Bruce, states positively that there are no bears in Africa. Another English traveller to Abyssinia, Salt, makes no mention of them; while the German, Ehrenberg, says that he has seen them in the mountains of Abyssinia, and heard of them also in Arabia Felix! Several French and English travellers (Dapper, Shaw, Poncet, and Poiret), bear testimony to the existence of bears in different parts of Africa--in Nubia, Babur, and Congo. In the Atlas mountains, between Algiers and Morocco, according to Poiret, bears are common enough; and this writer even gives some details as to their habits. He says that they are exceedingly fierce and carnivorous, and that the Arabs believe they can lift stones in their paws and fling them at those who may be in pursuit of them! He relates that an Arab hunter brought him the skin of one of those bears; and also showed him a wound in his leg, which he had received by the animal having launched a stone at him while he was pursuing it! Monsieur Poiret, however, does not vouch for the truth of the stone-throwing, though he stoutly maintains the existence of African bears."

"What does papa think about it?" inquired Ivan.

"That there are bears in Africa--perhaps in all the mountainous parts of Africa--but certainly in the Atlas and Tetuan ranges. Indeed, an English traveller of veracity has put the question beyond a doubt, by giving some points in the description of these African bears.

Naturalists thought that if such an animal existed in Africa, it would be the same species as the Syrian; but although the bears reported in the Arabian and Abyssinian mountains are likely enough to be of that species, those of the Atlas are evidently not only distinct from the Syrian bear, but from all other known kinds. One that was killed near Tetuan, about twenty-five miles from the Atlas mountains, was a female, and less in size than the American black bear. It was black also, or rather brownish black, and without any white marking about the muzzle, but under the belly its fur was of a reddish orange. The hair was s.h.a.ggy and four or five inches long, while the snout, toes, and claws were all shorter than in the American black bear, and the body was of thicker and stouter make. The Englishman had learnt something of its habits too. The Arabs said it was rarely met with near Tetuan; that it fed on roots, acorns, and fruits, but was only an indifferent climber.

Indeed it would be very improbable," continued Alexis, "that the great ranges of the Atlas and Abyssinian mountains should be without these mammalia, since they exist in nearly all the other mountains of the globe. Moreover, it should be remembered that it is only a few years since the bears of the Himalayas, of the Great Andes of America, and those of the East-Indian islands--and even the bear of Mount Lebanon-- became known to the scientific world. Why, then, should there not be a species in Africa--perhaps more than one--though civilised people are yet unacquainted with it?"

"But you say we are not going to Africa?"

"No; our instructions relate only to every variety of bear known to naturalists; and the African bear does not come under this category-- since it has not yet been described by any naturalist. For that reason we shall have no errand into Africa."

"Then, surely North America is our next stage?"

"Certainly not--you are aware that there is a South American bear."

"Yes, the 'spectacled bear,' as he is called."

"Just so--the _ursus ornatus_. I think we shall find two species in South America, though that is also a disputed point."

"Well, brother, what if we should?"

"Why, both will be found in the Andes of Chili and Peru, and not in the eastern parts of South America."

"And how should that affect our route of travel?"