210 WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 



take long to heal ; cuts on the hands, for example, often take 

 a long time to grow fresh skin. 



So our quiet Sabbath evening became all excitement, and 

 we dived for rifle, pistol, and lasso ; the lasso because we 

 could see the bear was not full grown, possibly a three-year- 

 old, and we hoped we might get it alive. As we raced down 

 four oars in the whale-boat I endeavoured to get some of 

 the frozen stiffness out of the rope and got it into coils in the 

 bow, and before I had completely done so, we were down 

 wind and near the bear. It stared at us and made rather a 

 sudden and alarming approach to the floe-edge, as if it in- 

 tended to come on board. I expected to lasso it on the ice, 

 but it plunged into the sea and came up within ten yards. 

 At the first throw the loop dropped neatly round its head 

 and sank a little, and a hard pull and a turn round the 

 bollard or timber-head in the bow made the bear fast. 

 Cheers from the men and roars from the bear, and Gisbert's 

 congratulations ; he was surprised at such a cast from 

 his pupil. (But he was not half so surprised as I was.) 

 It was very pretty as it stood looking at our approach in the 

 boat, faint yellow, darker than snow; two black tashes for 

 eyes, one for nose and two dark marks for ears, and the red 

 of the seal's flesh and skin on the snow very simple colours, 

 very delicate pale emerald-green and blue on the ice. When 

 it came running at us it was too picturesque ! We towed it 

 alongside the ship, gnashing its teeth and roaring, where it 

 swam about, expressing its disgust, in language I dare not 

 quote, at the rope round its neck and its inability to tow the 

 ship away. It may be too big and strong for us to manage 

 on board probably measures eight feet from nose to heel 

 and is three to four years old ; six-month cubs are what we 

 can handle more easily, and even at that age they are wonder- 

 fully strong. Gisbert told me he lassoed a cub, and was 

 throwing an extra hitch round its forearm, when it got 

 alongside him, put one hand on his chest, and he went down 

 like grass, and he is short and very strong, and is quite 

 fourteen stone ; he got his arm rather badly bitten. All 

 hands set to work to make another strong timber cage, and 

 they had it done almost before I had made a picture of the 



