BOllGEN CAJiRIED OFF BY A BEAK. 409 



that the former must have been the case. The next thing 

 I felt was the tearing of my scalp, which was only pro- 

 tected by a skull-cap. This is their mode of attacking 

 seals, but, owing to the slipperiness of their skulls, 

 the teeth glide off. The cry for help which I uttered 

 frightened the animal for a moment ; but he turned 

 again and bit me several times on the liead.^ The alarm 

 had meanwhile been heard by the captain, who had not 

 yet reached the cabin. He hurried on deck, convinced 

 himself that it was really an alarm, roused up the crew and 

 hastened on to the ice, bringing assistance to his struggling 

 comrade. The noise evidently frightened the bear, and 

 he trotted off with his prey, which he dragged by the 

 head. A shot fired to frighten the creature effected its 

 purpose, inasmuch as he dropped me, and sprang a few 

 steps aside ; but he immediately seized me by the arm, 

 and, his hold proving insufi&cient, he seized me by the 

 right hand, on which was a fur glove,^ and this gave the 

 pursuers time to come up with the brute, which had by 

 its great speed left them far behind. He was now making 

 for the shore, and would certainly have escaped with his 

 prey, had he succeeded in climbing the bank. However, 

 as he came to the edge o-f the ice, he turned along the 

 coast side, continuing on the rough and broken ice, which 

 greatly retarded his speed, and thus allowed his pursuers 

 upon the ice to gain rapidly upon him. After being dragged 



* From the slight effects produced by the bite of the animal, it would 

 appear that it was not full grown. 



* This fur glove had so successfully resisted the gnawing of the 

 boar, that Borgen had some difficulty in finding where the incisors of 

 the brute had penetrated, and was able to wear it again without its 

 being mended. " The furrier, Jahns, is still living in Bremen," writes 

 Dr. Copeland. 



