That it was possible might be inferred, from the fact of their father having issued the orders; but it was necessary for the young expeditionists to set out with caution: else might they take a wrong route, and be altogether unable to fulfil his injunctions. They must not twice cross the same meridian. It was this quaint condition that puzzled them, and rendered it necessary to guard against making a false start.
Lucky it was that Alexis was an accomplished zoologist, and thoroughly understood the geographical distribution of the genus ursus. But for this knowledge, they would certainly have been puzzled as to the route they were to take.
“Well, brother Ivan!” said Alexis with a smile, “had these orders been issued when the great Swede published his Systema Naturae, our task would have been easily accomplished. How far do you suppose our travels need to have extended?”
“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?”
“Precisely so – only the ursus arctos; and consequently we should have had but a very short journey to make, compared with what is before us now. It is true that previous to his death, the Swedish naturalist had made the acquaintance of the ‘Polar’ bear (ursus maritimus); but, strange enough, he regarded this as a mere variety of the ursus arctos– an error that one may wonder Linnaeus could have made.
“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.”
“But he has not indicated any route – has he? He gives us permission to go where we please, so long as we get the bearskins, and do not return upon our meridian. We are not to take the backtrack– ha! ha! ha!”
“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.”
“By my word! brother, I don’t see what you mean. I shall trust all to you: so take me where you please – which way, then?”
“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.
Chapter Five.
Tracing the Route
“In the first place,” said Alexis, “there is the brown bear (ursus arctos). Him we might find in many parts of our own country – since he is emphatically our ‘Russian bear’; but there is also a black bear, which some naturalists say is a variety of the ursus arctos, while others believe it to be a separate species, having given to it the specific name of ursus niger—ursus ator it is sometimes called. Now, whether it be a species or only a variety, we must get a skin of it all the same – since papa has definitely expressed it so.”
“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?”
“By no means. There is a bear in the Pyrenees, and other mountains of Spain – in the Asturias especially. It is also deemed by most naturalists to be only a variety of the ursus arctos, but it is certainly a distinct species; and papa thinks so. Some naturalists would have it that there are only three or four distinct species in the whole world. They might just as well say there was but one. I think it better to follow papa’s views upon this subject, and regard all those bears which have permanent marks of distinction – whether 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,