WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 237 



Fonix are rotten. He told me a curious thing that happened 

 with him a year or two ago ; whilst bottle-nosing his mate 

 had made miss after miss at whales with the harpoon, and 

 coming alongside he said : " By G , if I can't hit a whale I'll 

 hit a gull " (fulmar petrels were, as usual, round the vessel), 

 so he blew at one and the harpoon cut it in two ! But a 

 bottle-nose is an easier mark, to my mind, than the narwhal. 

 Narwhals are apt to show so little above water only about 

 four to ten inches, and that only for a second as a rule. 



Almost at every watch we heard their groanings and went 

 after them. Sometimes we thought we heard the sound 

 coming from under the water. I am sure we did. 



Our biggest disappointment came at night two in the 

 morning rather. A bear was spotted a bear on the far side 

 of our loch, and Gisbert went off with some men in the whale- 

 boat and we watched in our night clothes (much the same as 

 day clothes in the Arctic) and saw the captain do a record 

 sprint over the floe to turn the bear towards the gun, but the 

 bear that at first seemed inclined to come and pass the time 

 of day changed his mind and went ambling away, giving us 

 a stern view till only its black nose and mouth were visible, 

 as it looked round occasionally, and then it vanished in the 

 lilac distance amongst the snow hummocks, and the writer 

 turned in, thinking the play was over. But this morning, I 

 am told, the real disappointment came. They gave up the 

 bear, for a large black-and-white narwhal, with a magnifi- 

 cent horn, appeared round the ice point and they rowed round 

 for it. It was lying leisurely on the surface, only going below 

 occasionally. Gisbert was to take the harpoon. They 

 made a splendid approach, breathlessly still, oars not making 

 a sound, and got within five yards ! And the whale rose 

 high out of the water and Gisbert pulled the trigger, and the 

 gun missed fire. The cap that explodes the powder had 

 been withdrawn for safety, when they began the bear- chase, 

 and not replaced ! You can imagine the disappointment. 

 I can assure the reader that such an approach, the approach 

 and hunting of any whale, in fact, is far more exciting than 

 one's first stag or bear. There is more risk than in bear- 

 hunting. But a danger of the narwhal is that if you make 



