VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA '73 



picion that it had ah-eady had all the shot it wanted. 

 We drew nearer and nearer, but it 2:ave no siofn of life. 

 I looked into Henriksen s honest face, to make sure that 

 they were not playing a trick on me ; but he was staring 

 fixedly at the bear. As I looked, two shots went off, and 

 to my astonishment the great creature bounded into the 

 air, still dazed with sleep. Poor beast ! it was a harsh 

 awakening. Another shot, and it fell lifeless. 



We first tried to drag the bears down to the boat, but 



^i/f- 



" WE FIRST TRIED TO DRAG THE BEARS 



{By A. Eicbakke, from a Photograph) 



they were too heavy for us ; and we now had a hard 

 piece of work skinning and cutting them up, and carry- 

 ing down all we wanted. But, bad as it was, trudging 

 through the soft clay with heavy quarters of bear on our 



