CHAPTER VII 



A BEAR HUNT AND AN EPISODE 



(By the Leader of the Expedition) 



Thus will I save my credit in the shoot 



Love's Labour s Lost 

 Was ever man had such luck 



Cymbeline 

 You seem to me as Dian 



Much Ado About Nothing 



AT last we came to a place called Izenbeck Bay, and 

 here Macdonald said we should find a harbour of 

 refuge, and moreover declared that bears were plen- 

 tiful upon the mainland near this spot. The entrance 

 to this bay was sheltered by a chain of low sandy 

 islands, which occur at intervals with great regularity 

 along the Bering Sea coast, and are perhaps the 

 most uninviting, dreary-looking spots on earth. 

 Nevertheless, after many hours of enforced idleness 

 and certain discomforts since our departure from 

 Dutch Harbour, we all yearned to go ashore and 

 stretch our legs once more. So our skipper steered 

 a course between the islands and dropped anchor in 

 the sheltered bay. 



It was too late in the day to attempt a landing on 

 our arrival, but early next morning we decided on 

 making two expeditions from the ship, Agnes to 



99 



