110 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



distant. Each time as we were about to run her down 

 the bear dived and swam under water for a few yards. 

 We could see the great body at a considerable depth, 

 showing light green through the water. After we had 

 taken all the pictures we wanted a bullet broke the bear's 

 neck at the base and then with considerable difficulty we 

 got a rope around the body and hoisted it on board. It 

 was a female, seven feet five inches from nose to tail. 

 The fur was loose in places and was stained yellow and 

 brown with grease secreted from the body, probably also 

 from rolUng in dirty ice, and perhaps from seals on which 

 she had fed. It was thoroughly scrubbed with water and 

 soap to clean it as much as possible and then salted. 

 The carcass was swung up and kept for food. 



This unexpectedly early encounter with big game put 

 us all in the best of humor. All the disappointments of 

 the past month vanished like mist before the sun, and we 

 eagerly looked forward to more encouragement. Nor 

 were we long deferred. 



At this point we were some seventy-two miles east of 

 Herald Island, in latitude 71.20 N., longitude 171.30 W. 

 We were in the latitude of Point Barrow, the northern- 

 most cape of Alaska, and of the northern side of 

 Wrangell Island. This was the most northerly point 

 that we reached on the cruise. The storm had greatly 

 taken us out of our course. 



The "Abler" was put toward Herald Island and 

 threaded the leads among the broken ice floes until 

 evening. Just after supper a black lump on a pan devel- 

 oped into a sleeping walrus, and we could see long ivory 

 as he fitfully tossed his head. We kept our wind from 

 him, and Kleinschmidt and Elting in the two kayaks, 

 lashed together to make them steadier, paddled off to 



