POLAR BEAR AT HERALD ISLAND 121 



above the lair being about four feet. The lair had 

 evidently been there for a very considerable period. 

 . . . Polar bears do not, strictly speaking, hibernate 

 at all, . . . only the females lay up for a very consid- 

 erable time to bring forth their young." 



Nansen shot a she-bear on June 23d, with milk in 

 her breasts but no embryo and no trace of young, and on 

 July 6th killed two cubs with their mother, commenting: 



"It is remarkable how large these cubs are. I could 

 hardly imagine that they were born this year, and should 

 without hesitation have put them down as a year old if 

 the she-bear had not been in milk, and it is hardly to be 

 supposed that the cubs would suck for a year and a 

 half. Those we shot by the Tram' on November 4th 

 last year were hardly half the size of these. It would 

 seem as if the polar bear produces its young at different 

 times of the year. In the paunches of the cubs were 

 pieces of skin from a seal." Probably the cubs con- 

 tinued to suckle after the time actually necessary for 

 doing so. 



In spite of his great size and strength, for the polar 

 bear is among the largest of his kind, he is not difficult 

 to kill and usually takes to flight when wounded. When 

 he sees a man on the ice, the bear will stalk him, fre- 

 quently climbing hummocks to spy and sniff. He can 

 thus generally be shot at close quarters. An unarmed 

 man may frighten off a bear by loud cries or rapid move- 

 ment of the arms, but if he runs the bear will pursue. 



"Bear-hunting is very easy," says the Duke of the 

 Abruzzi. "A bear sees and smells a camp long before 

 man is aware of his presence, and hunger generally com- 

 pels him to approach. It is not, therefore, necessary to 

 look for him. Our dogs, which were so many, and 



