THE POLAR BEAR. 



By Sergeant Francis Long, of the Greely Arctic Expedition, and George 

 S. McTavish, of the Hudson's Bay Company. 



^HEN the projectors of the Lady Franklin Bay 

 enterprise were planning their explorations in 

 the polar regions, I was selected and detailed to 

 accompany the expedition as a hunter. My long 

 experience in hunting the big game of the Far West proved 

 of great value to me in this service, and yet, in common 

 with other members of the expedition, and with the Eski- 

 mos whom we employed to assist us, I had great difficulty 

 in securing sufficient fresh meat to feed the brave men who 

 manned our ships, after we entered the regions of eternal 

 snow and ice. Still, the plan of providing a special detail 

 to do the hunting proved a wise one; for, without the fruits 

 of the chase which we secured under such hardships and 

 perils, none of us could have lived until the arrival of the 

 rescuing party. 



Having been requested to write of the Polar Bear, I have 

 condensed as much as possible the information I gathered 

 during my three years of battling with icebergs and frost, 

 and shall make such notes thereon, and describe such of my 

 varied experiences in hunting that animal, as I deem of the 

 greatest interest to sportsmen and the general public. 



Looking back over that period of three years, during 

 which time we were exposed to the icy blasts of the polar 

 regions, were compelled to live on reduced rations, and even 

 to face starvation on an icy desert, I can readily realize 

 that, without the most strenuous efforts in the way of 

 hunting and of turning the resources of that inhospitable 

 waste to the most rigid account, we should have found the 

 end of our scant larder much sooner than we did. 



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