440 THE WORLD OF THE SEA. 
curiosity of the bear some minutes—precious minutes to the 
sailor, who was nearly exhausted. Again the bear approaches, 
and again a mitten is thrown to distract his attention. The 
crew, who had been intently watching the chase, saw matters 
were becoming serious, and sallied out to their comrade’s assist- 
ance. The bear was again in chase, and the man had parted 
with his cap when his friends arrived. Having received a wound 
from a rifle, and, thinking that discretion was the better part of 
valour, the bear retreated to hunt the less dangerous seals, having 
taught the adventurous sailor a lesson he was not likely to forget. 
In the month of September, 1596, a Dutch vessel, commanded 
by William Barentz, had arrived on the further coast of Nova 
Zembla, and was overtaken by a drift of ice, and so enclosed 
on all sides, that no human power could extricate it. Barentz 
was reduced to the sad prospect of spending the winter in this 
desolate region. The vessel, shaken and tossed by the movement 
of the ice, was cracking in many places. It was resolved, there- 
fore, to drag the small boat to land; and, with this object, the 
crew moved into it all the biscuit, wine, powder, and weapons. 
A tent was erected near the boat; subsequently, a hut was 
built. On the 15th of September, while they were at work, 
three bears of different sizes were seen coming towards them. 
The smallest remained behind a large block of ice, the others 
advanced. One dipped his head into a tub where some meat 
was soaking. The men fired, and the animal fell dead. The 
other bear stopped short, as if amazed, snuffed his companion, 
and then, as if he perceived the danger, decamped. By the 
order of the captain, the bear was opened, disembowelled, and 
then placed on his four legs, that he might be frozen in that 
position, and taken to Holland if the vessel should ever be 
released. On the 23rd, the crew had the misfortune to lose 
the carpenter; he was buried in a cleft of the rock, as it was 
not possible to dig a grave in the hard, frozen ground. The 
crew now consisted of only sixteen. On the 27th, the frost was 
so intense that if one of them put a nail into his mouth, as 
workmen do, he could not take it out without the skin of his 
lip coming with it! On the 25th of October, as they were 
