MAMMALS OF NOETHEKN CANADA 225 



bear was observed from the ship, and as the captain was 

 desirous of procuring a suitable specimen, he ordered his 

 chief mate, John Hackland, to lower and man one of the 

 boats for this purpose. The Company's surgeon (H. S. Bed- 

 dome) with several of the cabin passengers, myself included, 

 obtained permission to accompany him. As soon as bruin 

 perceived the iboat proceeding in his. direction, instead of 

 being scared, he boldly advanced to meet us, and we were 

 therefore not long in coming to close quarters. A couple 

 of shots were fired at him, one of which evidently struck 

 home, as he immediately turned tail and set off at a rapid 

 and much blood-marked pace over the ice. After a hot pur- 

 suit we gave up the chase, as it was impossible to follow 

 him with the iboat or on the moving masses of floating ice. 

 We then returned to the ship greatly disappointed at the loss 

 of such a fine animal. Next morning another bear was seen, 

 but at a considerable distance; but we were more fortunate 

 on a subsequent occasion, while we were similarly delayed 

 by ice near the centre of Hudson Bay. This attempt by 

 the same boat party was crowned by the capture of a much 

 larger polar bear than Captain Herd had ever observed in 

 the course of the twenty voyages then made by him between 

 London and Tork Factory. It was an old veteran, and had 

 evidently participated in many a hard-fought battle for food 

 and love, the proof marks of which were deep and many 

 in number. The last great fight for life was the culminat- 

 ing point of a career which surely entitled him to hold the 

 position of the unquestioned championship of the white bears 

 of Hudson Bay. The sailor in the orow's-nest was the first 

 to perceive the bear, at less than a mile's distance. He 

 appeared to be engaged in a fierce combat with some large 

 animal, which turned out to be the case. When we came 

 up to him he only had had time to partake of a few mouth- 

 fuls of the warm flesh of an enormous seal (Erignathus har- 

 hatus) which had been killed by him after a terrible struggle, 

 evidences of this being plainly visible. He looked as if he 

 was very angry indeed at our unseasonable interruption of 



