SEE OUR FIRST BEAR. 89 



walking across one of several large patches of snow 

 on the island; after waiting a little we did per- 

 ceive a minute white speck moving on the black 

 part of the island; it was undoubtedly "Gamle 

 Eric"* himself, and we lost no time in preparing 

 for an immediate onslaught upon him. Visions 

 of white rugs trimmed with nicked red cloth took 

 possession of our brains, to the temporary exclu- 

 sion of pairs of walrus tusks of fabulous length and 

 thickness. We started for the island in one boat, 

 but shortly after we left the sloop Isaac sent the 

 other boat after us, in order to take the opportuni- 

 ty of getting some dry drift-wood for fuel. We care- 

 fully took the bearings of the island by compass, 

 and rowed hard, as fog appeared likely to come on 

 again. After about an hour's rowing we got pret- 

 ty close to the island, and observed our "friend in 

 white 11 quietly pottering about, evidently in search 

 of something — "gathering eggs, 11 Christian explain- 

 ed to us. Multitudes of gulls, fulmars, eider-ducks, 

 and "alcas 11 hovered about the island, screaming 

 and chattering, and evidently in a state of great 

 perturbation at Bruin's oological researches. We 

 got a small cliff between us and the bear without 

 his perceiving us, and jumped ashore with our ri- 



* The people in most parts of Norway have a singular 

 prejudice against alluding to a bear by his name " Biorn ;" 

 but they generally prefer mentioning him by some sobriquet, 

 as " old Erie ;" or in some roundabout way, as " the party in 

 the brown jacket," " the old gentleman in the fur cloak," etc. 



