Part 3 (1/2)
”Very essentially indeed. Were we to go first to North America, we should find no less than five species, or four species and one well-marked variety. To reach the native haunt of one of these--I mean the grizzly (_ursus ferox_)--we should have to go farther west than any part of the South American Andes: how, then, could we afterwards reach the spectacled bear without doubling back on our meridian?”
”True, brother--I see that, by looking on the map. You propose, then, steering first to South America, and afterwards to the northern division of the American continent?”
”We are compelled to do so, by the very nature of our contract. Having procured the skins of _ursus ornatus_ and another variety we shall find in the Andes, we can then travel almost due north. On the Mississippi we shall be able to pick up a skin of the American black bear (_ursus america.n.u.s_), and by the help of the Hudson's Bay _voyageurs_ we shall reach the sh.o.r.es of the great gulf in which that territory takes its name. There the 'polar bear' (_ursus maritimus_) can be found. Farther westward and northward we may hope to capture the 'barren ground bear,'
which the English traveller Sir John Richardson thinks is only a variety of our European brown bear, but which papa--and good reasons he has-- believes to be nothing of the kind. Crossing the Rocky Mountains, we shall be able, I hope, to knock over the famed and formidable grizzly (_ursus ferox_), and in Oregon, or British Columbia, we shall strip his hide from the 'cinnamon bear' (_ursus cinnamonus_), believed to be a variety of the American black. That will finish with the bears of America.”
”Asia next, I suppose?”
”Yes, straight across to Kamschatka. There we shall meet with the 'Siberian,' or 'collared bear' (_ursus collaris_). Of these, two varieties are said to exist, one of which, specified by the name _ursus sibiricus_, is also found in Lapland and Siberia.”
”Go on, brother! Where next?”
”From Kamschatka we shall make a long traverse to the south-west. Our best hunting-ground will be Borneo.”
”Ah! the beautiful little bear with the orange-coloured breast!”
”Yes; that is the 'Bornean bear' (_ursus euryspilus_), or 'Bruang,' as he is called by the Malays.”
”But there is another Bruang?”
”Yes--the 'Malayan sun-bear' (_ursus malagenus_). This we shall encounter in Sumatra or Java, whichever we choose to visit.”
”Well, the list is much larger than I expected; certainly it has been wonderfully lengthened since the days of the good old Linnaeus.”
”We have not reached the end yet.”
”Where next, brother?”
”Up the Bay of Bengal, and on to the Himalayas. First in the foot-hills of these mountains we shall have to search for the curious 'sloth bear,'
or 'juggler's bear' (_ours de jongleurs_) as the French writers term him. He is the _ursus l.a.b.i.atus_ of naturalists; and we may find him in the plains of India, before reaching the Himalayas. Having skinned him, we shall proceed to climb the great mountains, and higher up we are certain to come across the 'Thibet bear' (_ursus thibeta.n.u.s_)--by some very erroneously described as being one of the numerous varieties of the European brown bear! Still higher up we shall, I hope, have the good luck to encounter and kill a specimen of the 'Isabella bear' (_ursus isabelinus_), so called from his colour, but termed by Anglo-Indian sportsmen the 'snow bear,' because he frequents the declivities near the snow-line of these stupendous mountains.”
”That is all, is it not?”
”_No_, Ivan--one more, and that will be the last.”
”What is he?”
”The 'Syrian' (_ursus syriacus_); and though the last in our catalogue, this is the very first on record: for they were bears of this species that came out of the wood and 'tare forty and two' of the mockers of the prophet Elisha. We shall have to visit Syria, to procure a skin of the _ursus syriacus_.”
”Well, I hope their ferociousness has been tamed down since Elisha's time, else we may stand a fair chance of being served in a similar fas.h.i.+on.”
”No doubt we shall have many a scratch before we encounter the bears of Mount Lebanon. When we have obtained a robe from one of them, there will be nothing more for us to do but take the most direct route home.
We shall then have gone _once round the world_.”
”Ah, that we shall!” said Ivan, laughing; ”and all over it too. Great Czar! I think by the time we have captured one of Elisha's bears, we shall have had a surfeit of travel.”
”No doubt of it; but now, brother, that we know where we are going, let us waste no more time, but signify our acceptance of the conditions, and be off at once.”
”Agreed,” said Ivan; and both returning into the presence of the baron, announced their readiness to take the road.