POLAE BEARS 



Mac. and I quickly took up position in the bow and 

 opened hostilities, but on account of the roughness of the 

 sea and the tossing of the boat, the shots were ineffective, and 

 so far as the old bear was concerned, an opportunity was not 

 afforded for repeating them. Quick as a flash she disap- 

 peared, leaving her fleecy cub' paddling about on the surface. 

 Though the engine of our boat had been stopped, the 

 momentum carried us on rapidly past the little swimmer, 

 which was about the size of a half-grown sheep. As we 

 passed, Con. seized master bruin and endeavored to land him 

 on board, but in this he, perhaps fortunately, failed, and was 

 prevented from pursuing his ambition by the sudden appear- 

 ance from the deep of the enraged mother, who, with a roar, 

 made a plunge for the stern of the boat, where the Doctor was 

 seated, and seized the gunwale in what were afterwards 

 described as her " devilish-looking jaws." 



To say that this sudden turn of events was a surprise to 

 lis all but feebly describes the expressions depicted upon the 

 faces of our party. With the other occupants and the en- 

 gines between us and the bear, Mac. and I were unable to 

 shoot, but Con. came to the rescue, and with several desperate 

 thrusts of the iron-pointed gaff he persuaded the bear to re- 

 lease her hold, when with the engine again running, a separa- 

 tion was effected, but not before we had learned an inter- 

 esting lesson regarding the habits of the polar bear. 



As a matter of discretion, the boat was now kept at a safe 

 distance from the bears. Several shots were fired, one or two 

 slight wounds being inflicted on the mother, but as fast as the 

 little one could travel, though no faster, they maintained a 

 steady course for the nearest point of land. Apparently 

 nothing would induce the mother bear to forsake her little 

 one, and though wounded herself, her whole anxiety seemed 

 to be for her offspring. Sometimes she would swim a short 

 distance in advance, but only to return in a moment, as if 

 to urge on the little creature to greater exertion. 



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