90 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



encounter with a bear. He took me by the 

 arm and howled at me at the top of his lungs, 

 in Norwegian, a torrent of words of which I 

 could understand nothing except that it was 

 imperative to drive the bears into the water. 



I asked no more than that ; the issue, 

 however, remained with the bears and not 

 with me. 



To my intense annoyance, Jonas continued 

 shouting and gesticulating, although only sixty 

 yards away the mother was already displaying 

 uneasiness. If old Father Jonas had under- 

 stood Spanish, I would have said : ' Vaya 

 listed con Dios ' (Go with God !). During the 

 momentary lull I contrived to say ' Bra ! ' 

 which in English means ' Very well ! ' My 

 tone was sufficient ; he understood and sub- 

 sided. 



The bear halted and examined the ship. 

 The cub drew up alongside and stood on its 

 hind paws, imitating its mother's movements. 

 It was indeed a curious sight to see it turning 

 its head from side to side just as its mother did, 

 wondering, perhaps, what that large white mass 

 was which it had never seen before. While 

 this was occurring, the men sprang quickly 

 on to the ice from the canoe. The bear's 

 inquietude increased. Suddenly it turned as 



