1915] TO RENSSELAER HARBOR 159 



A ninety-pound dog held firmly in the steel jaws of a 

 big polar bear is absolutely helpless. Finally a .22 h.-p. 

 Savage did its work and did it quickly, as all killing 

 should be done. 



In this first bear-fight mth untried dogs there were 

 many surprises. Poor old Blinky Bill, mild and meek- 

 looking as a sheep, proved to be a hero in disguise. In- 

 offensive, never mingling with the rest of the dogs, 

 never picking a quarrel, thrashed by all, he fought like 

 a demon, nipping, rushing, and jumping away until he 

 was fairly wabbly on his legs. After the fight was over 

 he retired modestly behind a lump of ice to nurse a 

 thigh ripped completely open. One dog, a bully, sup- 

 posed to be a born scrapper, became actually crazy with 

 fright at the first slight dig he received. He did not 

 appear to know where he was, and wandered off for 

 half a mile, where he perched on an iceberg and howled 

 dismally. Animals evidently are just as deceiving as 

 men when it comes to a test of courage. 



Our bear measured eight feet from nose to tail, six 

 feet in circumference, and four feet around the neck. 

 So with dogs filled to repletion and sledges loaded with 

 meat and the rolled-up skin, we took the back trail 

 to the spot where our sledges and camping equipment 

 had been abandoned. We pitched our tent in falling 

 rain, hail, and snow which continued all through the 

 next day. 



We cached our meat and skin on the 15th under the 

 snow and proceeded toward the face of the Humboldt 

 Glacier, so named by Doctor Kane after Alexander von 

 Humboldt, the great naturalist and scientist This 

 glacier, one of the largest in the Arctic regions, stretches 

 into the north for a distance of some fifty miles; it is 



