240 ADVENTURES WITH BEARS. 



observing, the young gentleman rushed for the door, 

 upset the magnetometer, and had nearly lost his life 

 in his precipitate haste to get over the dangerous ice- 

 foot, while hurrying on board to give the alarm. We 

 sallied out with our rifles ; but while Starr was fleeinsr 

 in one direction, the bear had been making off in the 

 other. I had an adventure, about this time, which, 

 like that of Starr's, shows that the Polar bear is not 

 so ferocious as is generally supposed ; indeed, they 

 have never been known to attack man except when 

 hotly pursued and driven to close quarters. Strolling 

 one day along the shore, I w^as observing with much 

 interest the effect of the recent spring tides upon the 

 ice-foot, when, rounding a point of land, I suddenly 

 found myself confronted in the faint moonlight by an 

 .enormous bear. He had just sprung down from the 

 land-ice, and was meeting me at a full trot. We 

 caught sight of each other at the same instant. Be- 

 ing \vithout a rifle or other means of defence, I 

 wheeled suddenly toward the ship, with, I fancy, 

 much the same reflections about discretion and valor 

 as those which crossed the mind of old Jack Falstaff 

 when the Douglas set upon him ; but finding, after a 

 few lengthy strides, that I was not gobbled up, I looked 

 back over my shoulder, when, as much to my surprise 

 as gratification, I saw the bear tearing away toward 

 the open water with a celerity which left no doubt as 

 to the state of his mind. I suppose it would be diffi- 

 cult to determine which was the worst frightened — 

 the bear or I. 



The additions to the Hans family furnished us as 

 well a welcome source of amusement as of service. 

 As I have said before, they were three in number, and 

 bore respectively the names of Tcheitchenguak, Kab- 



