A BEAR-HUNT. 187 



her aid, and would not go on without it. Some- 

 times the mother would run a few yards ahead, as 

 if to coax the young one up to her, and when the 

 dogs came up she would turn and drive them back ; 

 then, as they dodged her blows, she would rejoin 

 the cub and push on, sometimes putting her head 

 under it, sometimes catching it in her mouth by 

 the nape of the neck. 



" For a time she managed her retreat with great 

 celerity, leaving the two men far in the rear. 

 They had engaged her on the land-ice ; but she led 

 the dogs in-shore, up a small stony valley which 

 opened into the interior. After she had gone a 

 mile and a half, her pace slackened, and, the little 

 one being jaded, she soon came to a halt. 



" The men were then only half a mile behind, and 

 running at full speed. They soon came up to 

 where the dogs were holding her at bay. The 

 fight was now a desperate one. The mother 

 never went more than two yards ahead, constantly 

 looking at the cub. When the dogs came near 

 her, she would sit upon her haunches, and take 

 the little one between her hind-legs, fighting' 

 the dogs with her paws, and roaring so that she 

 could have been heard a mile off. Never was an 

 animal more distressed. She would stretch her 

 neck and snap at the nearest dog with her shining 

 teeth, whirling her paws like the arms of a wind- 

 mill. If she missed her aim, not daring to pursue 

 one dog lest the others should harm the cub, she 



