The effect of the process was, from time to time, tested, by holding out a finger near to the creature’s face. If it attempted to bite, the chastisement was continued until, on the application of the test, there was either a quiet submission, or a turning away of the head. Ultimately the animal was made acquainted with our accustomed modes of expressing approbation, by being patted on the neck or side of the head; and, then, as often as it rebelled, the usual punishment was renewed, and, whenever it indicated submission, it either received the former token of approval, or the more substantial and intelligible reward of being fed by the hand by which it had been wont to be chastised. The thorough subjection, indeed, of this naturally ferocious creature was soon effected,—within the space, I believe, of two or three days,—and from that time forward my Father’s command over it was uniform and supreme. Nor was the kindness with which he treated the captive lost upon it; for it yielded, as occasions permitted, very decided indications of an inversion of its ordinary vicious propensities in respect to its considerate master. Two illustrative cases belong to this record. On the arrival of the ship in port, bruin was removed to the oil-yard,—the premises on which the blubber was landed, in order to its being reduced into marketable oil. Its arrival became a subject of popular interest, and the inhabitants of Whitby flocked out in masses to see it. Whilst so situated, the bear, somehow or other, obtained his release, and escaped into an adjoining covert,—“Cockmill Wood.” The incident soon became known at Whitby. A wild and dangerous animal—now rendered supremely ferocious by reason of the almost perpetual teazing to which he had been subjected from his numerous visitors—at large, within a mile or so of the town, and in a wood intersected by a much-frequented footpath, proved the occasion of great and general excitement. Men and lads, assisted by dogs, and armed with guns and a variety of other destructive weapons, were speedily in progress, and with overwhelming superiority, towards the retreat of the bear, with a view to its destruction. Happily for poor Bruin, my Father got timely intimation of the circumstance that had occasioned so much alarm. He proceeded forthwith to the oil-yard, where he provided himself with a short piece of rope, and then climbed the cliff into the wood in search of the stray animal. Guidance was sufficiently afforded by the stream of persons flowing towards the place of his retreat, and, on nearer approach, by the noise and clamours of the assemblage.