THE OSPREY. 



HOISTING A HLGB BRUTE ON BOARD. 



from the rest and lay a little apart, so that they 

 could be easily grasped and held in my left hand 

 at the instant of launching the harpoon. On the 

 deck, also, were a score of loose rifle cartridges 

 and my three-barrelled gun. reduced now. since 

 its last accident, to a length of eighteen inches, 

 a regular !Mafia weapon, in fact. Just behind nic. 

 and leaning against the starboard gunwale, was 

 my Winchester repeater. It and the three-barre' 

 bJth carried the powerful 4S-90-,300 cartridge. I 

 expected to do most of my killing with the three 

 barrel, but the repeater was in readiness to repel 

 the attack of a herd. 



Lee held the tiller, five of the best Eskimos 

 manned the oars, and I took mv stand in th'- 

 space forward of the bow oar. Lee had beside 

 him. in the stern, another repeater carrying the 

 same cartridge. Both boats and the three kay- 

 aks left camp at the same time, but soon seo- 

 arated, my boat going in one direction, accom- 

 panied by one kayaker. and the other boat and 

 two kayaks taking another. 



It was a dirtv morninor. wi*^h the snow-sciualls 

 chasing each otber throutrh the Sound, .ind th" 

 air tremulous with a low continuous roar, as of 

 distant surf. ?bove which from time to time rose 

 the crash and thunder of capsizing and disrupt- 

 ing icebergs. 



The setting of the scene was savage in the ex- 

 treme. The barren, snow-cove'-ed shores, the 

 dead-white, ghastly ic-fioes and spectral bergs, 

 driven here and therf bv winds and currents, and 

 the blnck water swirlino' between, were render'xl 

 tenfold more dismal and desolate by the sombre 

 twilipht of the Arctic autumn. 



We soon sighted a herd of some fifty of the 



animals upon a cake of ice, but the 

 day was too raw and cold for them 

 to sleep comfortably, and they were 

 restless, constantly fighting among 

 themselves. 



We pulled noiselessly towards 

 them behind the screen of a small 

 berg, till concealment was no longer 

 possible; then with a low "Shake her 

 up. innuksue," from me, the boat 

 swerved out past it, and with all the 

 speed of five iron backs and powerful 

 pairs of arms, dashed at the quarrel- 

 ing monsters. For an instant they 

 were too startled to move; then the 

 huge half-frightened, half-enraged 

 brutes plunged bellowing for the 

 water. 



But I was already within range, 

 and springing to my full height, with 

 a motion that called every muscle 

 from scalp to toes into play. I hurled 

 my harpoon at the nearest, a big bull 

 that had plunged directly at the boat. 

 Tlie heavy shaft with its trailing line 

 flew through the air and caught the 

 huge fellow fair in the shoulder, the 

 iron-edged head pierced the tough 

 hide, the shaft disengaged itself and 

 floated loose, and, with a roar, the 

 animal disappeared in a vortex of 

 blood-stained foam and water. 



Rapidly I tossed the remaining 



coils of line over-board. The boat's 



headway had now carried her close 



to the ice. and she was dancing like 



a cork in the waves made by the 



plunging animals. The next instant 



the ponderous brute, with the momentum of a 



hundred feet of pain, rage, and fright-inspired 



motion, set the line taut, and changed it from a 





.^. 



b^;#- 





KITTIW.IKK Gl I 



From a ph'^togTaph taken bv l.iuul. Peai y c.n thu p i L;at bird 

 c-liffs of Saunder's Island, Nur.h Greenland. 



sinuous, flexible thong to a vibrant rod of steel, 

 singing like a deep eolian, with a fierce note that 



