XL] WILSON AND THE BEAR. 201 



putting this ingenious plan into execution. He had been 

 regularly done out of a situation, in which the most poignant 

 agony of mind and dreary anticipations would have been 

 absolutely required of him. He pictured the scene to him- 

 self; he lying fermenting in the barrel, like a curious vin- 

 tage; the bear sniffing querulously round it, perhaps cracking 

 it like a cocoa-nut, or extracting him like a periwinkle ! Of 

 these chances he had been deprived by the interference of 

 the crew. Friends are often injudiciously meddling. 



Although I felt a little vexation that one of us should not 

 have had the honour of slaying the bear in single combat, 

 which would certainly have been for the benefit of his skin, 

 the unexpected luck of having got one at^ all, made us quite 

 forget our personal disappointment. As for my people, they 

 were beside themselves with delight. To have killed a polar 

 bear was a great thing, but to eat him would be a greater. 

 If artistically dealt with, his carcase would probably cut up 

 into a supply of fresh meat for many days. One of the hands 

 happened to be a butcher. Whenever I wanted anything 

 a little out of the way to be done on board, I was sure to 

 find that it happened to be the specialite of some one of the 

 ship's company. In the course of a few hours, the late bear 

 was converted into a row of the most tempting morsels of 

 beef, hung about the rigging. Instead of in flags, the ship 

 was dressed in joints. In the meantime it so happened that 

 the fox, having stolen a piece of offal, was in a few minutes 

 afterwards seized with convulsions. I had already given 

 orders that the bear's liver should be thrown overboard, as 

 being, if not poisonous, at all events very unwholesome. 

 The seizure of the fox, coupled with this injunction, brought 

 about a complete revolution in the men's minds, with regard 

 to the delicacies they had been so daintily preparing for 

 themselves. Silently, one by one, the pieces were untied 

 and thrown into the sea : I do not think a mouthful of bear 

 was eaten on board the "Foam? I never heard whether it 

 was in consequence of any prognostics of Wilson's that this 

 act of self-denial was put into practice. I observed, however, 



