7 



WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 199 



but it turned out to be not half the size of the big fellow 

 C. A. H. has secured. 



He and De Gisbert and I set out after it together. But 

 the only way, I thought at the time, to get within shot without 

 scaring it was to do a regular deer-stalk crawl of a hundred 

 yards to get behind an isolated piece of rounded snow, just 

 big enough to cover one person. So I left Gisbert and 

 Hamilton behind a bigger hummock as covering party 

 and proceeded at great leisure, ventre a terre, to approach 

 the said piece of snow, I do not think that ursus got my 

 wind, but possibly the noise of my elbow crunching through 

 a hard crust of the snow drew his attention, and I saw a 

 black eye and the 

 dark ear of the 

 right side of his 

 face peering round 

 the little lump of 

 snow, then his black 

 left eye looked 

 round the other side 

 of the hummock, 

 and then both eyes 

 and black nose were 

 gently raised over 

 the top we were 

 stalking each other ! 



From subsequent experience I have learned that my 

 stalking was rather wasted, as a bear will always come to 

 the attack if you are alone. I liked his expression, what 

 I saw of it, but either he did not like mine or he got an 

 inkling that there was a covering party in the rear, for he 

 suddenly seemed to think of something and turned and very 

 sedately walked away to the left, with his head down. So I, 

 also sedately, I hope, sat up on the soft snow and pulled at 

 his shoulder at about fifty yards, and he collapsed, and then 

 got up and pelted away to the right, the writer following, 

 both of us tumbling and pulling ourselves up again in the 

 soft snow and hummock. It took other two shots (375 

 cordite), both fairly well placed, to end its troubles. 



