ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



717 



Bartlett. Bartlett gave one wild jump across 

 the boat, not even taking time to change his sit- 

 ting position, and landed very neatly on the scat 

 of the other side. 



The bear seemed to have an idea of getting 

 into the launch, and we had to punch him away 

 with the boat-hook. Finally we succeeded in 

 roping him, and this time I took good care to 

 leave the rope slack until he had put his fore- 

 legs through it, when I took a turn with our end 

 of the rope around a cleat just as the bear was 

 busy climbing out on the ice. In the excitement, 

 we had neglected to reverse the engine, and when 

 he went out on the ice he very nearly took the 

 launch with him. To have a 900 or 1000- 

 pound bear fastened to your launch and drag- 

 ging 3'ou out on the ice, under a full head of 

 steam, is not a very pleasant position to be in. 

 At this time the 

 bear could very eas- 

 ily have gotten into 

 the launch ! 



Finally, however, 

 w e succeeded i n 

 slacking away the 

 rope, got the engine 

 going astern, and 

 gradually started to 

 drag the animal in- 

 to the water. It was 

 a wonderful sight 



to see this enormous brute with a strong rope 

 just behind his fore-shoulders. He would rear 

 on his hind legs, bite at the rope and jump up 

 and down ; but the good, old Standard Motor in 

 the launch did not go back on us, and we stead- 

 ily and surely dr:i',ged him towards the edge. 

 Finally, seeing t''. t the inevitable was coming, 

 with a vicious groul he plunged into the water 

 and started for the launch. 



We did not have much difficulty in keeping 

 him out, except when we were turning the launch 

 around and getting it going ahead toward the 

 ship, half a mile distant. The way he churned 

 the water, and twisted and surged was really 

 thrilling, but he had left the ice-pans forever. 



We signalled the ship to move into open water, 

 as we needed plenty of sea room in which to 

 handle our bear, having had all the experience 

 we wanted in the broken ice. 



After we had gotten some 200 or 300 yards 

 away from the pan-ice, the big brute succeeded 

 in getting out of the rope, and I was compelled 

 to rope him again. This time he would not 

 kee)) his head high enough out of the water to 

 enable me to gel the rope over him, so we were 

 compelled to run up close, and hang the noose on 



the end of the boat-hook. By dropping the 

 noose over his head and carefully allowing it to 

 stay slack until he had gotten one or both legs 

 through, we at last succeeded in getting him 

 fast once more, and started to the ship, but not, 

 however, before he had made one or two un- 

 successful attempts to climb into the launch. 

 The placing of the noose over his head with the 

 boat-hook had its disadvantages, and was rather 

 dangerous, because we were compelled to go 

 very close to the bear. 



We towed him to the ship, swung out the 

 crane, fastened the hook onto the rope and, in 

 the twinkling of an eye, Mr. Green, the mate, 

 had hoisted him high into the air and swung 

 him over the ship's deck. This caused a wild 

 stampede among the Eskimos, who were per- 

 fectly familiar with the strengtli and power of 

 a full-grown male 

 ])olar bear. Willing 

 hands were at t h e 

 swinging tackle o f 

 t h e derrick, how- 

 ever, and in another 

 moment we had the 

 roaring, raging 

 monster over the 

 li a t c h of number 

 one hold. As soon 

 as he had been gent- 

 ly lowered down, 

 all hands made a wild rush for the hatch to have 

 a look at our pet. 



We found him surprisingly cool, merely sit- 

 ting on his haunches, growling, and making the 

 champing noise peculiar to bears when angry. 

 The rope was still around him, but no weight 

 being on it the noose was quite loose, and as 

 soon as he moved around it fell off. 



The next day, to my surprise, our captive ate 

 small pieces of bread and meat that were thrown 

 down to him. Then the question arose, how shall 

 we get liim into the cage.' We needed some of the 

 coal under the bear, to keep the ship trimmed. It 

 was a very serious situation, as the fireman did 

 not show any willingness to go down for the coal. 

 At once we set to work to knock our small cages 

 to pieces, and build a larger one, some ten ft. long 

 and six ft. broad and high. We used tiie iron bars 

 fur the door, and the sheet iron for the bottom. 



After starving our bear for four or five days, 

 we placed a fine, juicy piece of walrus meat and 

 a tub of fresh water inside the cage, and lowered 

 it down to the bear. He started directlj^ in, but 

 the sailor who was working the trap-door let it 

 drop too soon, and the bear held it up with his 

 back while he backed out. 



FINALLY THE ROPE HELD 



