HOW WE HUNT POLAR BEARS 285 



of the same kind, I learned that whenever possible there 

 should be but a single hunter at a bear hunt. With a 

 party of white men it is nearly impossible to manage this, 

 for unless they are old hands they become daffy with 

 excitement whenever a bear turns up. Eskimos are little 

 better, especially the youngsters who have never seen a 

 bear or at least have never helped kill one. In this case, 

 there were eight or ten Eskimos, ranging in age from boys 

 of ten or twelve to the leading man of the community who 

 was about fifty. As they came they shouted to each 

 other and to the dogs. 



The polar bear evidently realized that there was more 

 danger from the men than the dogs, so he set off again at 

 a gallop. But the dogs nipped his heels so viciously 

 that he did not have quite the strength of mind to con- 

 tinue running and turned again in an attempt to corner 

 one of the dogs against an ice hummock. Several delays 

 of this sort eventually enabled the hunters to get within 

 shooting distance and a fusillade began. The old man 

 begged the others not to shoot for fear of killing some 

 of the dogs, but most of the excited hunters paid no 

 attention to him. His intention was the sensible one of 

 getting within ten or fifteen yards of the scrimmage and 

 then watching for an opportunity to fire when no dogs 

 were in line with the bullets. Waiting his chance he 

 would have shot the bear near the heart and everything 

 would have been over. But before he got near enough, 

 one dog had been wounded by a stray bullet and just 

 as the old man was about to kill the bear, a second bullet 

 struck another dog and killed him instantly. The bear 

 already had two or three flesh wounds which he appeared 

 to mistake for dog bites, for each time he was hit he 

 made redoubled efforts to catch the dogs. When the old 



