WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 229 



all very pleased, and were just drawing the harpoon from the 

 gun, which we had reloaded, when again whales appeared in 

 our little ice bay. So we again threw our oilskins into the 

 boat and went off again. In our bay we waited twenty 

 minutes by the watch, and up one came again, a better one 

 than our first was leading : it was white, with black spots. 

 Our first was brown, with white markings. We very nearly 

 got the harpoon into it, but it only showed for a second or 

 two each rise and it escaped. So more waiting in wet cold 

 wind, with a lot of bears' blood, and snow and water under 

 foot : but this journey we had each a tot of aqua vite. So 

 we waited and waited again, just as you wait for a rising 

 trout only with a little more subdued excitement and 

 perhaps more than usual wet and cold : and again the hand- 

 some beasts appeared, and we dashed after them, three pairs 

 of oars, but they went off under the floe and we waited again 

 till endurance ceased, and, very wet, and cold, and shivering, 

 we got aboard for supper at four in the morning. Three 



o'clock yesterday morning till four o'clock this morning 

 makes a longish day of experience. I would have given two 

 bears to have got the biggest narwhal with the splendid 

 horn. Perhaps if we had harpooned one of the baby whales 

 of the family we might have got the horned male, for 

 narwhals, like sperm whales, stand by each other. Or we 

 might have had his great ivory tusk through our boat, as 

 has happened before. They have driven their spear through 

 many inches of an oaken keel. You can see such a keel in 

 Bergen Museum. 



We cut up the narwhal and found it full of small 

 cuttle-fish and shrimps the bear was full of lead. 

 These great 475 cordite seemed to have less effect than 

 the higher velocity 250 mannlicher. I must try them again, 

 but I begin to be a convert to the smaller bores and high 

 velocity. 



