AN ESKIMO BEAR-HUNT 239 



nannook!" and all straining every nerve in pursuit. 

 The bear rises on his haunches, views his pursuers, 

 and starts off' at full speed. The hunter, as he runs, 

 leaning over his sledge, seizes the traces of a couple of 

 his dogs and liberates them from their burden. It is 

 the work of a minute ; for the speed is not checked and 

 the remaining dogs rush on with apparent ease. Pressed 

 more severely, the bear stands at bay while his two 

 foremost pursuers halt at a short distance and quietly 

 await the arrival of the hunter. At this moment the 

 whole pack are liberated ; the hunter grasps his lance, 

 and, stumbling through the snow and ice, prepares for 

 the encounter. Grasping the lance firmly in his hands 

 he provokes the animal to pursue him by moving 

 rapidly across its path, and then running as if to escape. 

 But hardly is its long body extended for the tempting 

 chase, before, with a quick jump, the hunter doubles 

 on his track, and, as the bear turns after him again, 

 the lance is plunged into the left side below the 

 shoulder ; and that so dexterously, that, if it be an 

 inch or so wide of the proper spot, the spear has 

 to be left in the bear and the man has to run for 

 his life. 



At this hazardous work Kalutunah was an adept, and 

 he was equally skilful at a much less dangerous game, 

 as Dr. Hayes was to discover when wintering in the 

 schooner United States in Foulke Harbour, further 

 south, in 1860-61. Hayes wished to learn how to 

 catch auks, and the Eskimo gave him a lesson. 

 Kalutunah carried a small net, made of light strings of 

 sealskin knitted together, the staff by which it was held 

 being about ten feet in length. Arriving about half-way 



