Homepage
Login
Profile
BookClubs
dmBox
Read Ebook: Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Aldous Huxley by Huxley Aldous Widger David Editor
Font size:
Background color:
Text color:
Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page Prev Page
Ebook has 424 lines and 35785 words, and 9 pages
The seal was immediately broken and not without some surprise did they peruse the contents of the document. It was in the form of an epistle, and ran thus:--
DISCUSSING THE CONDITIONS.
"Yes," quietly answered Alexis; "there are not many cities where bears abound."
"Such strange conditions!" added Ivan, "I wonder what father can mean by imposing them upon us."
"Indeed, I hardly know myself. One thing only seems to explain it."
"What is that, brother?"
"You are aware, Ivan, of the interest that papa takes in all matters relating to bears. As people say, it is almost a mania with him."
"True: that may have been what first led him to take an interest in these animals."
"And yet to impose upon us these queer conditions!" continued Ivan; "it certainly does seem a little eccentric?"
"Oh, certainly, brother! I admit that; and I am ready to yield obedience and perform any task dear papa may think proper to impose on us."
"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?"
"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."
"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."
"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 assist 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.
TRACING THE ROUTE.
"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?"
"You propose, then, to go next to Spain, and kill the Spanish bear?"
"But how about the white bear of the Alps?"
"Yes. To reach the Alps, where it is said to be found, we should have to recross a meridian of longitude?"
"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?"
"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 shaggy 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."
"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?"
"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 --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?"
"Asia next, I suppose?"
"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!"
Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page Prev Page