DRIVEN OFF SHORE. [CHAP.V. 



he would not have attempted, and in breathless 

 agitation announced the intruder. Instantly 

 were heard a hundred voices in all varieties of 

 tone, from the shrill scream to the hoarse bawl : 

 the news flew fast, and gathered as it flew ; so 

 that, by the time it had travelled from the fore- 

 castle to my cabin, it saluted me with the intel- 

 ligence, that two bears, an old and a young one, 

 were close to the ship. On reaching the deck 

 I saw, indeed, a young bear about ninety paces 

 ahead of the ship, shaking and eating a piece of 

 an old jacket which it had just picked up. The 

 first Lieutenant and Mr. Gore fired, and, both 

 balls taking effect, the animal staggered away about 

 forty paces and fell dead. It was a female cub of 

 last year \ and though on being opened the stomach 

 was found entirely empty, there was still some fat 

 adhering to the flesh. To us the adventure was a 

 novelty, and gave occasion to some jests. 



By midnight the wind blew fresh from the 

 south-east, soon closing the holes near us ; and 

 during the next twelve hours, so far had the 

 ice taken us off shore, that at noon, when the 

 sun was fortunately clear for a few minutes, 

 it was evident that the ship's head was now 

 pointing E.N.E., in a line directly for Mill 

 Islands, and that we were not less than seven or 

 eight leagues from Seahorse Point. In this new 

 posture of affairs it was deemed expedient imme- 



