LAND AT LAST 423 



one side, and up came a huge head with great tusks ; 

 it snorted, looked contemptuously at the bear, then 

 gazed for a while wonderingly at me as I stood on 

 the ice, and finally disappeared again. This had the 

 effect of making me think the old solid ice a little far- 

 ther in a pleasanter place of sojourn than the new ice. 

 My suspicion that the walrus entertains no fear for 

 the bear was more than ever strengthened. At last 

 Johansen came with a rope. We slipped a runnino- 

 noose round the bear's neck and tried to haul it out, 

 but soon discovered that this was beyond our power; 

 all we did was to break the ice under the animal, 

 wherever we tried. It seemed hard to have to Q-ive it 

 up ; it was a big bear and seemed to be unusually fat ; 

 but to continue in this way until we had towed up to the 

 edge of the thick ice would be a lengthy proceeding. 

 By cutting quite a narrow crack in the new ice, 

 only wide enough to draw the rope through, up to the 

 edge of a large piece of ice which was quite near, 

 we got pretty well out of the difficulty. It was now 

 an easy matter to draw the bear thither under the ice, 

 and after breaking a sufficiently large hole we drew it 

 out there. At last we had got it skinned and cut up, 

 and, heavily laden with our booty, we turned our steps 

 homeward late in the evening to our den. As we ap- 

 proached the beach where our kayaks were lying upon 

 one of our heaps of walrus blubber and meat, Johan- 

 sen suddenly whispered to me, " I say, look there !" I 



