252 WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 



This morning in sunny mist appeared a dot, far away over 

 the snow, and we put glasses on it and made out a seal. As 

 our young men thoughtfully hung back from a stalk, it was 

 left for De Gisbert and the writer to make the effort. Finally 

 the writer started over very rough going, with very little 

 chance of getting within shot, still, just to show an example, 

 we felt one of us must try. 



So we climbed over the bow and got on to the floe-edge and 

 away from ship. It was very charming on the floe amongst 

 these ice tombstones and ledges fringed with huge icicles 

 that, in a wide view, are simply monotonous white, but 

 which all become very sweet and beautiful when you are 

 close to them and can examine the details at leisure. The 

 only way to see nature thoroughly is to have it rubbed into 

 you. Who can see a rainstorm with an umbrella up ? 

 When you have one leg in a hole in the floe and the other on 

 the floe, and hands, rifle and staff going, you do not know 

 how deep, there is plenty of time for the dripping icicles 

 over the blue ledge in front of you to impress themselves on 

 your memory ; and for a time at least, the seal you are 

 stalking, or even the bear that may be stalking you, or 

 when you think of the beauty in front, the cold in your 

 boots, become of little importance. 



Then you toil on, dripping from nose and eyebrows just 

 like the icicles, for on this blessed day of days through these 

 mist wreaths there is hot sun and the ice-floe glitters glori- 

 ously. Everyone said that the seal could not be approached. 

 But by dint of much consideration and a crawl here and 

 there, I managed to get within a hundred and fifty or a 

 hundred and sixty yards. Then I thought, " Just to show 

 what could be done by old age and experience," I'd try to 

 get even closer to a hundred yards that lost the seal for 

 me ; for when I got behind the tiny knob of ice I aimed at the 

 seal had got into its hole in the floe. For the last fifty yards 

 I was following the two or three days' old track of a bear ; I 

 wonder if he and I had both stalked the same seal with the 

 same result. 



A day's stalk, or rather a few hours' stalk, after a seal suits 

 my taste, and Hamilton agrees. He says, apropos of a big 



