'.4 CHAPTER IV 



BROWN BEARS 



Thou'dst shun a bear 



King Lear 



Will not the ladies be afeard? 



Midsummer Nighfs Dream 



AFTER leaving Kodiak in the Lily and reaching the 

 Mecca of our hopes, a land-locked bay, on the south 

 side of the island, we had a preliminary canter from 

 ship to shore, and finding it such a nuisance to have 

 to return to sleep aboard, we decided that, cold as it 

 might be, we would camp for a time, a course which 

 would enable us to cover more ground than if we 

 had to return to our ship every night. 



We landed with a considerable quantity of kit, the 

 four hunters and the bidarkas. Ralph and I actually 

 made shore in the two-hatch bidarka, chiefly because 

 he bet me I dared not trust myself in it with him for 

 pilot. He paddled in such a wavering fashion that I 

 breathed a prayer, and thought my last hour had 

 come. He said that the bidarka had a permanent 

 list to starboard, and we flew along well on the 

 side of our fragile vessel full steam ahead. If I 

 hadn't understood the laws of equilibrium, which 

 prompted me to shift ballast at the right moment, I 

 should have been hurtled into the sea. Fate is kind 



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