The terrestrial mammals and birds of North-East Greenland. 75 



all round the ice. The waters south of the island were filled with 

 large ice-bergs surrounded by thin new ice. 



On the way from the Teufelkap island to the west end of 

 Lichts Bistrup saw ^'-/lo a bear with two cubs (about half a year 

 old). Occupied in playing with her cubs the bear did not heed the 

 sledge, till it had advanced quite close to the animals. Some un- 

 harnessed dogs at once set out in pursuit of the bears which turned 

 round and ran towards the coast and farther on across the moun- 

 tains. When the dogs came nearer, the she-bear made the cubs 

 run before her, while she remained behind to take up the combat. 

 Soon the bear was surrounded by the dogs and killed by a rifle 

 shot. The young however were lost of sight and did not show 

 themselves for some hours. At last one of the bear cubs appeared 

 near the place where the mother was killed, still extremely cautious 

 and ready to turn round as soon as it was in the least scared. 

 Bistrup harnessed the dogs to the sledge and pursued the cub 7 — 8 

 kilometer. A dog which had been let loose soon came up with the 

 bear and kept it at bay, till Bistrup came and shot it. Next day 

 in the morning the second bear cub appeared at a distance of about 

 700 meter, standing on the crest of a small rock and sniffing cau- 

 tiously towards the tent. It was pursued, but in vain. The animal 

 at once fled and did not appear any more. The stomachs of the 

 two killed bears contained seal. 



During my absence a cub of about 5 months was shot on Aug. 

 13*^ 1907 at "Syttenkilometernæsset". The animal walked alone and 

 Avas in good condition. After the statement of the narrator the sto- 

 mach contained meat — not of seals. It seemed strange to me that 

 a bear of that age was strolling about alone and that it had man- 

 aged to keep up life under such conditions. That the animal — as 

 some supposed — should be identical with one of the very small 

 cubs (described under '^^Is 07), the mother of which was shot by 

 Brønlund, is quite contrary to to the laws of nature in my opinion. 

 How should a bear's cub of three weeks, left to itself in the coldest 

 month of the year, when everything is covered with ice, be able to 

 sustain life? 



^/ii 07. Not far from the ship's harbour Tobias shot a rather 

 young she-bear. The bear was very fat. The teats were quite small, 

 and the animal contained no foetus. — The stomach empty. 



Record from G. Thostrup's and Wegener's sledge drive from 



the ship's harbour to lat. 80° 45' n. 

 March 28tb— May 3P' 1907. 



