WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 283 



seals, and it lay on its back and turned up the black soles 

 of its feet and rolled about, apparently quite pleased with its 

 own company, and indifferent to the seals. 



A remarkable thing happened when our little body of 

 hunters set out after it the seals lay on the ice, without 

 popping into their holes, also other seals came alongside to 

 within ten yards or so of the Fonix. It looked as if they 

 knew that we were men bear-hunting. This struck me as 

 odd up here. Of course in the Antarctic there would have 

 been nothing remarkable ; and Gisbert, who has been in 

 Arctic ice scores of times, also thought it unaccountable, 

 unless it was actually the case that the seals knew that we 

 were in pursuit of their enemy. 



Still another thing extraordinary happened we were 

 watching the great old fellow stretching himself, and all 

 his movements through the glass, noting his colour, light 

 warm yellow, lighter than the violet of the floe in shadow ! 

 when he raised his black nose and face and went off at a 

 walk to the left. I am sure he had not seen our guns or 

 smelt them, it must have been that extra sense which the 

 black bear also possesses instinctive knowledge of a pre- 

 sence. Soon he came to a place where two of our men were 

 visible to him and then, Hamilton tells me, he went off at a 

 gallop I A great big male bear ! It is a rare thing to see a 

 bear gallop, I just missed doing so took my glass off to 

 make a note in colour, and he had got to a walk again when 

 I put my glass on again. He made off fast to the left, where 

 the floe ended, and about half-a-mile of calm sea and small 

 bits of floe separated it from the next floe. This manoeuvre 

 left the two guns and the men far behind, so, to prevent his 

 escape, we lifted our ice-anchor off the floe and steamed away 

 to cut him off, and we got between him and the next floe 

 when he was about a hundred yards from it, and so turned 

 him back a great big fellow swimming strongly, making a 

 dark green wake behind him across the smooth bronze 

 colour of the water his last swim up the golden track of the 

 midnight sun. Poor old man, the orange rays touched his 

 pale face, and he looked anxious. I think the seals knew he 

 was in difficulty, for several swam quite close to him, their 



