340 NEW LAND. 



It was much too dark to aim, but as I knew the gun well, I pointed 

 it 'towards the bear as accurately as I could, and fired. The only 

 thing that came off, however, was a click, as the cock caught in 

 the tent-door. Then, with the greatest care, I got the door right 

 open, and crept out, which I could do unnoticed, as the sail of the 

 boat ran a good way forward in front of the tent, and made 

 the entrance to it still darker than the surroundings. But when I 

 had come half-way out of the tent, one of the hooks caught in my 

 Icelandic jersey, which was the garment I was wearing uppermost. 

 In becoming aware of this, I touched a tin box inside the tent 

 with my foot, so that it gave a slight rattle. No sooner was this 

 sound audible than the bear to my great and unpleasant 

 surprise came trotting smartly up towards me. 



' Here was manifestly no time to be lost. When my assailant 

 was about fifteen feet away and still advancing quickly, I blazed 

 at it, lying on my face, and without being able to take proper aim. 

 The flash from the gun shed a brief light on . the scene, but a 

 moment afterwards made one only the more sensible of the 

 darkness. 



' That I had hit the bear was plain enough, for it rose on to its 

 hind-legs, whined from fury and pain, sparred with its fore-legs, 

 and spun round like a top. It was the most remarkable, I might 

 almost say, the most insane sight I had ever seen. At the same 

 moment I observed two very small cubs which appeared from the 

 meat-heap and stood side by side, amazed spectators of the scene 

 which followed. 



' Well, the bear spun round and round, but by degrees the 

 whining ceased, and it ran round in an ever-increasing circle : it 

 was quite evident that it was seeking the reason for the pain it 

 was feeling. Whether it saw me when I fired I do not know ; but, 

 anyhow, it must have been dazed by the shot, and the deep gloom 

 under the sail prevented it from seeing me later. 



' I had not been able to put a new cartridge into the rifle- 

 barrel, but the shot-barrel was loaded with ball, which I knew 

 would have its effect at close range. I was afraid, however, that 

 I might shoot wide, now that the bear was in such a state of 

 activity ; in that case I should be disarmed, and the shot would be 



