_Ursus Americanus_, a species distinct from the black bear of Europe: it has a long, pointed nose, and narrow forehead, the hair of a glossy black color, smoother and shorter than that of the European kind, and is generally smaller than the European bear. The brown bear, _Ursus Arctos_, is also found in some of the northern parts of America. La Hontan observed the difference of disposition between the brown and the black bear; the latter, he says, "are extremely black, but not mischievous, for they never attack one unless they be wounded or fired upon." The reddish (_rougeâtres_) bears are mischievous creatures, for they fall fiercely upon the huntsmen, whereas the black fly from them. The former sort are less, and more nimble than the latter. The flesh of the black bear, and, above all, their feet, are very nice victuals. The savages affirm that no flesh is so delicious as that of bears, and I think they are right.[226]--La Hontan, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 288. Charlevoix, vol. v., p. 172. The _Ursus Maritimus_, or Polar Bear, is confined to the coldest parts of the globe, being unknown except on the coasts of Hudson's Bay, Greenland, and Spitzbergen. (Lambert says that they have been seen at Newfoundland, and La Hontan saw one at a distance at Placentia.) This animal grows to so great a size that the skin of some are thirteen feet long. They are so fond of human flesh that they will greedily disinter dead bodies; they will attack companies of armed men, and will even board small vessels. The skins of the Polar Bear were formerly offered by the hunters of the Arctic regions to the high altars of cathedral and other churches, for the priest to stand on during the celebration of mass in winter.--Rees's _Cyclopædia_, art. Ursus.