94 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



the box, and the cub was a prisoner. It made 

 a most infernal noise, bellowing and tearing 

 madly at the walls of its prison, but they 

 proved too strong for it. We left it for a time 

 to reflect on its fate while we went to obtain 

 the skin of the mother bear. 



Like the two bears I had already shot that 

 day, this one possessed a magnificent head, 

 and haunches rather larger than those of male 

 bears generally. Probably because it was still 

 suckling its cub, it was remarkably thin a 

 mere bag of bones. I recollected that far away 

 to the north we had seen only male bears, while 

 here, close to the continent of Greenland, we 

 had met only with females. Can it be that 

 female bears in general seek the land when 

 suckling their young ? That is a question 

 which still awaits an answer. I can only affirm 

 that up to this point I had always encountered 

 male and female bears wide apart. 



Everyone having re-embarked, the course 

 was resumed, and we sat to finish our inter- 

 rupted dinner. The beaters had well earned 

 it. They were soaked to the skin, having 

 passed through pools of icy water shoulder 

 deep. Further, Recamier, Ottersen and Julius 

 had had a very narrow escape, it transpired. 

 They had been standing on the edge of the 



