152 TROUBLES OF EXPLORER 



he reappeared and, raising his head high out of the water looked around. 

 Seeing nothing but the two seals on the ice, he swam leisurely round and 

 round the opening before scrambling up onto the ice. As he reached it and 

 moved towards his two companions, the men, who had been carefully aiming 

 at him, fired and killed him. 



"With the three seals, the party returned to the camp in high spirits, their 

 arrival being the signal for general rejoicing, for not only would the blubber 

 of the seals keep the lamp supplied with oil, but their skins were very welcome 

 additions to the stock of warm coverings and the meat was an invaluable 

 addition to the larder. 



"Really it was more, but of that they were not aware until two days later, 

 when one of the men was awakened by a short barking roar of a bear. He 

 quickly roused his companions, and they made their way out of the hut with 

 what weapons they possessed. 



"The flesh of the seals had been suspended on a line between two poles 

 near the other provisions so as to protect it from any chance visit by wolves 

 or tj'ears. As the first man peered out from the hut opening, he saw in the 

 dim twilight two bears standing underneath the line of meat, sniffing up at 

 it and growling. They had, it was afterwards learned, picked up the trail 

 where the dead seals had been dragged from the opening in the ice, and had 

 followed it to the camp. 



"The man whispered back to his companions what he saw, and another 

 man, armed with a rifle, crept to his side. Aiming together behind the shoul- 

 der of the larger of the bears, they fired simultaneously and brought their quarry 

 down. Immediately the other bear turned towards the opening and with 

 snarling teeth advanced. A third rifle was fired point-blank at its head, 

 but the bullet failed to penetrate the massive skull, though it made the beast 

 change its direction. As it turned away the men realized what it meant if it 

 escaped, and there was a rush after it, the men loading and firing as quickly 

 as they could load, so as to secure it before it disappeared in the dim grey 

 twilight. It fell wounded, and was despatched by means of the impromptu 

 spears." 



Major-General A. W. Greeley, himself a polar hero, has this to say, in 

 his 'iHandbook of Polar Discoveries," of the hardships encountered in the 

 ice fastnesses : 



"If one would gain an adequate idea of the true aspects of such voyaging 

 he "must turn to the original journals, penned in the great White North by 



