TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 141 
mately come up with him, had they not been 
stopped from pursuing him by his swimming across 
a lane of open water that separated the sea-ice 
from that attached to the land. After getting out 
of the water on the opposite side of this channel, 
he was observed to be again of a perfectly white 
colour; but before he had been many minutes on 
the ice, his coat was changed again to the same 
crimson hue as before, so that it is probable, al- 
though he escaped from his pursuers, he will ulti- 
mately die of the wounds he received. Notwith- 
standing which, we have had evident proofs, from 
the number of their skulls we found on this land, 
that bears are at least occasional visitors, yet as 
we had never seen any of them before to-day, 
it was supposed that they only came here in the 
summer time ; persons went, therefore, out walk- 
ing, not only singly, but often unarmed ; a thing 
which, I presume, is not likely to happen in 
future, more especially as the bear pursued 
to-day was first noticed by a person who was 
walking out alone. On seeing the animal, he im- 
mediately returned with all speed to the ships, 
with the bear after him, which induced many to 
believe, that the animal was in pursuit of him; 
but, I think, it is most probable, that his scent 
had led him towards the ships, and that he would 
have come to them whether he had met the per- 
son in question or not: be this as it may, it is 
certainly best to promulgate the idea, that he 
followed the man, as it may put others on their 
guard, not to go too far singly, especially without 
means of defence. 
