PKEPAEATIONS FOE WIKTEEING. 329 



the first and last time that I tried this shot upon a musk 

 ox. I struck the cow exactly in the middle of the fore- 

 head, about an inch above the eyes ; she scarcely seemed 

 to shrink, and I was glad to be able to give her another 

 in the shoulder immediately, as she seemed inclined to 

 try what she could do with her short, crooked horns in 

 self-defence. Wagner in the meantime had finished his 

 part of the work, so that, after cutting their throats, we 

 rolled them some hundred feet down the deep, steep 

 slope, where they rested upon a comparatively smooth 

 snow-heap. Then followed the less agreeable but neces- 

 sary work of skinning them. Wagner was willing enough 

 and strong enough ; but as this sort of work was new 

 to him, the greater part of course fell to my share. As 

 the animals were so near the ship, I much wished to so 

 skin them as to put them in our collection ; and at last, 

 after the lapse of two hours, we had the pleasure of taking 

 off the skin of the third ox, with its head and feet 

 attached. Whilst thus busied, we kept a sharp look-out 

 for less agreeable guests ; for a bear, attracted by the 

 smell of the dead animals, might visit us ; but at first 

 nothing happened. Excited by the happy results of our 

 hunt, we were about returning, when Wagner suddenly 

 saw a huge bear very near to us. He was a magnificent 

 fellow. Standing on the back of the neighbouring height, 

 he twisted his long neck from right to left, sniffing the 

 air with every sign of caution and mistrust ; he showed 

 to advantage as he stood with his powerful broad breast 

 presented to us ; his huge paws firm upon the ground, or 

 sometimes raised when he stood on his hind feet to 

 sniff the air more effectually. As soon as we saw him, 

 we ducked between the stones, and examined whether 



