BEARS 81 



a pistol-shot in the back of its head, and, whilst 

 an oceanographical survey was being made, 

 accompanied Recamier on a little voyage of ex- 

 ploration. The first thing we discovered were the 

 remains of a seal the bear had killed, skinned, and 

 completely eaten, but for the viscera and bones. 

 Following the bear's tracks we came to the spot 

 where the seal had been captured. It was a 

 round hole, about twenty inches across, and 

 was connected with the open sea by a very 

 narrow channel. As we could see from the 

 traces in the snow, the bear had crawled along 

 on its stomach and crouched at the edge of the 

 hole. It must have seized the seal by the head 

 as soon as it rose to the surface and flung it 

 violently on to the snow. The seal had mani- 

 festly resisted to the utmost of its power, for 

 the imprints of its fins were very deep, and the 

 snow was stained with blood, in the centre of 

 which lay its head. Judging from the circular 

 sweeps of its tail, it had probably fought as 

 does a carp when seized by the gills. The bear 

 had then dragged its prey away. On one side 

 of the bear's trail we found the marks of the 

 seal's fins ; on the other was the blood which 

 had dripped from its neck. Finally, to kill its 

 victim completely, the bear had dashed it 

 against a block of hard, rough ice. It had 



