16 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



Although the history of Arctic exploration and adventure 

 contains accounts of many a death laid to its charge, yet the 

 ' polar ' makes but a poor fight against the accurately sighted 

 breechloaders of to-day, and it is very rarely that one hears of 

 the loss of a man in an actual encounter with a bear. And 

 this for several reasons. Unlike the grizzly, the polar has 

 generally to fight his man at a disadvantage. Seen first at a 

 long distance, he commonly requires but little stalking. A 

 boat full of men creeps along the ice edge until within shooting 

 distance, and if when merely wounded the bear has the pluck 

 to charge, he has not the opportunity, for his enemies are on 

 the water, and once he leaves the ice he is completely at their 

 mercy no match for a man who can handle even a lance or 

 an axe moderately well. Should a man happen to encounter 

 a polar on land or ice, however, the brute's great size and 

 marvellous vitality naturally make him a somewhat formidable 

 foe, especially as the soles of his feet are covered with close-set 

 hairs, which enable him to go on slippery ice as securely as 

 upon terra firma. This characteristic of having the sole of 

 the foot covered with hair is peculiar to Ursits maritimus. But 

 even when encountered on ice, nine bears out of ten will not 

 fight, even when they have the chance, unless badly 'cornered.' 

 As a rule, Ursus maritimus is purely carnivorous, preying 

 mostly on seals, which bask on the ice with their heads always 

 very close to, if not actually over, the water, a habit of which 

 the bear takes advantage in approaching to within striking 

 distance, by dropping into the water some way to leeward and 

 swimming noiselessly along the ice edge. Even if the seal 

 perceives the white head, the only visible portion of the swim- 

 ming bear, it probably takes it for a drifting splinter of ice, 

 and pays no more attention to it, until a blow from the heavy 

 forepaw of the bear ends sleep and life together. I am told that 

 the bear manages to secure seals lying at their holes on large 

 flat expanses of ' fast ' or bay ice, but imagine that such cases 

 are rare, as anyone who has tried to stalk a seal basking at its 

 hole knows how extremely difficult, if not impossible, it is to 



