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 h