288 OUT OF SIGHT OF LAND. Chap. XVII. 



Sunday evening, 21st. — Position, 72 43' N., 72 6' W. At 

 sea — out of sight of land ! 



On the 19th we were somewhat delayed by loose ice off 

 Cape Hay, but by noon yesterday were close off Cape 

 Burney, and whilst almost becalmed there, a mother bear 

 swam off to us with two interesting cubs about the size of 

 very large dogs — foolish creatures ! a volley of rifles decided 

 their fate in a very few seconds. Not finding any whaling 

 vessels off Pond's Inlet, the land-ice which shelters the 

 whales having all disappeared, we concluded that the whalers 

 had left in consequence, so, without seeking for them further 

 south, we at once changed our course for Disco. 



To-day only a few icebergs have been seen. There is a 

 good deal of swell, so we tumble about. Roast veal has 

 appeared amongst the delicacies of our table since the 

 battue of yesterday, and Christian has asked for a portion 

 of the old bear to carry home to his mother. Bear's flesh is 

 a real delicacy in Greenland. 



This is probably the last time that we shall fall in with 

 bears, or have any occasion to allude to them. We see, we 

 talk, and we dream more of bears than of any other animals, 

 and are wont to write about them also, more perhaps than 

 is necessary ; nevertheless, I cannot let slip this opportunity 

 of saying a few last words about our old acquaintance, the 

 polar bear. 



When we find him roaming over fields of drifting ice 

 more than a hundred miles from land, we are filled with 

 wonder ; when there is no ice, we find him swimming off to 

 our ships two, three, or more leagues, and we are scarcely 

 less astonished. Arctic blue-books contain the official 

 diaries of more than a hundred sledge-journies, and in these 

 the ubiquitous bear is constantly mentioned. 



It is only when wounded or pressed by extreme hunger 

 that the polar bear becomes fierce ; as a rule he endeavours 



