76 A. L. V. Manniche. 



^2/4. 12 kilometer from Lamberts Land the traces of a bear 

 with two small cubs going eastward were seen on the bay. Follow- 

 ing the traces the travellers found the animals in a 6 meter deep 

 snow cave; at the inmost part of the latter was a 50 cm. broad hole 

 leading down to the Avater, probably the breathing hole of a seal. 



At the arrival of the hunters the she-bear defended herself vio- 

 lently at the entrance to the cave, while the young remained behind. 

 The mother was shot, and the cubs which were supposed to be 

 three weeks old, were bitten to death by the dogs. 



In the evening, the travellers having pitched their tent on the 

 ice 16 kilometer north of Lamberts Land, the dogs surrounded a 

 rather old male bear which was shot near the tent. 



^°/i 07. Lat. 79° 45' n. A male bear was seen on a glacier and 

 shot. 



^''/4 07. Lat. 79° 50' n. A bear with two small cubs (of the same 

 size as those mentioned under ^^/4) was seen, surrounded by the 

 dogs and shot. The same day, while the travellers were busy flay- 

 ing the killed bears, a very large male bear approached the tent, 

 coming from the north. The dogs immediately set out in pursuit 

 of the bear which ran towards the coast jumping quickly (each 

 jump was of the length of 4 meters). Now^ and then the bear turn- 

 ed round and faced the forward dogs, till at last, strongly harassed 

 by the latter, it jumped on to a 15 meter high ice-berg, from the 

 top of which it was shot down. 



^^/4 07. Lat. 80° 10' n. A younger male bear was ran in by the 

 dogs and shot. 



^/5 07. Lat. 80° 10' n. On the sea-ice two bears were observed, al- 

 ways keeping close to each other. A little nearer to the sledge a young 

 male bear suddenly appeared and was soon shot. Nevertheless the two 

 bears that were walking on the ice at some distance, still remained close 

 to each other, often wandering round in small circles, touching each 

 other with the muzzles at the same time. Evidently it was a male 

 and a female pairing. When the dogs became aware of the bears 

 and set out in pursuit of them at full speed, the male bear prompt- 

 ed his companion to escape, slapping her with the fore limbs; now 

 and then he put himself in a posture of defence, when the dogs 

 became too forward. The she-bear having been severely wounded 

 by a ball which made her unable to escape, the male hurried to 

 her rescue, furiously defending her against the attack of the dogs. 

 When even the male was severely wounded, both bears roared 

 hoarsely and became quite furious with pain. They rose up on 

 their hind limbs, swinging the upper part of the body against each 

 other and slapping each other violently with the fore paws. After 



