88 ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHERN SEAS. 



that is, that they are no gainers by it in the long 

 run ; for, whether it was attributable to our ener- 

 gies, mental and bodily, being recruited by a day 

 of rest, or to the fact of the animals, the objects of 

 pursuit, having time to settle during twenty-four 

 hours 1 respite from bullets and harpoons, somehow 

 Monday always was with us the most successful 

 day of the week. 



Verily a day of rest once a week is of essential 

 importance to man and beast, even if on no other 

 grounds than those of physical requirements. 



We always considered Sunday to terminate 

 punctually at midnight ; in these regions it is just 

 as light in July at midnight as midday, and it was 

 a singular circumstance (might I not venture, with- 

 out being deemed presumptuous, to suggest that 

 this might be more than merely accidental?) that 

 we saw our first bear a few minutes after this Sun- 

 day had expired. 



We were smoking our pipes on deck at midnight, 

 and looking at a low black rocky island, distant 

 three or three and a half miles, when Christian 

 said, "There might be a bear on that island;" he 

 took up his telescope in an uninterested sort of 

 way, and, looking for a little at the island, exclaim- 

 ed, "There is a beaiffcn it ! " We instantly directed 

 our telescopes also upon the island, but could see 

 nothing. Christian, however, stoutly maintained 

 that he had seen a bear, and that the reason we 

 could not make him out was that he was now 



