BEARS 51 



to lure the bear. This stratagem frequently 

 succeeds. A bear will almost always approach 

 a strange smell to investigate it. Sometimes, 

 however, it resists the temptation and trots 

 away, in which case one's only resource is to 

 try a long shot. On more than one occasion 

 I have killed bears from a distance of six hundred 

 yards with a Mannlicher rifle, often at the first 

 shot. Indeed, I prefer long-distance shooting 

 at bears, as it gives the animal a chance for 

 its life, and is not mere slaughter. 



The approach of a bear, when it is attracted 

 by an unknown smell, or when simple curiosity 

 impels it to some investigation, is a most inter- 

 esting sight. The magnificent animal, undis- 

 puted master of its icy empire, draws slowly 

 near, every ten yards or so rising on its hind 

 paws and snuffling the air precisely to locate 

 the smell ; or it crouches on a hummock and 

 surveys the chaos of ice around it. Sometimes, 

 like a cat, it crouches behind a rock permitting 

 only its muzzle to be seen, which from time 

 to time it covers with its paws, as though to 

 hide the part it knows to be visible. I remember 

 one night, when we were imprisoned in the Kara 

 Sea, three bears, a mother and its young, were 

 unexpectedly discovered roaming over the ice 

 about the Belgica. The August midnight 



E 2 



