Hudson's Strait and Bay. 



rocky cape, we saw again two polar bears swimming. At first I thought 

 them the same pair which we had first seen, but soon made out that 

 they were two full-grown animals. As my ammunition was pretty 

 well exhausted, I did not fire until I got within easy range. I tired 

 two shots, wounding one of the beasts. They immediately made 

 for the shore, ran up through a little ravine where they were out 

 of sight, and then appeared on a ledge above. I fired two more shots 

 and wounded both animals. They then started to climb up the cape, 

 but, finding it too steep, fell back and turned down into the ravine or 

 gully, where we could not see them. 



The launch was run ashore and the sailor, a bold, courageous man, 

 from Newfoundland, known as "Con" Griffeu, and myself got out. 

 Griffen's only weapons were a boat-hook and an axe. We climbed up 

 the rocks, so as to get a good point of attack above the bears. For 

 some time Ave could not see them, but heard them growling with pain 

 and rage. I must confess that J resembled at that moment Bob 

 Acres, in "The Rivals/' and could feel the courage gradually oozing 

 out from my finger ends. But it was worse to go back and be laughed at 

 for showing the white feather, so I kept on. We approached within about 

 fifty feet of the bears before they were visible. As soon as they caught 

 sight of us they began to growl and roar worse than ever. I immedi- 

 ately fired two shots from my Remington rifle, which is a single-fire 

 breech-loader. Both took effect in the body of one animal. In order 

 to get a better aim, the bears being a little below the ledge where we 

 were, and among the rocks, Griffen and I went nearer. I fired at the 

 other bear, which was very slightly hurt, and hit him in the body, but 

 it only enraged him the more. He immediately gave a most terrific 

 roar of pain and sprang at us; fortunately, he was obliged to come up 

 hill. By the time I had extracted the old shell and had reloaded my 

 rifle, he was within ten feet of me. I fired as carefully as I could; 

 the b<ill struck him in the lower jaw and then entered his head. He 

 fell back into the gully, turned tail, crawled down to the water's edge 

 and plunged into the sea, where he died soon after. By this time 

 my last cartridge had been fired. " Con " Griffen all this time had 

 stood just at my right, with axe uplifted, ready to take a hand in the 



As we did not wish to go back without some trophy, we decided to 

 attack the remaining bear, which was very badly wounded, with the 

 axe and the boat-hook. In this way we killed it. The party from 

 the launch soon after came ashore, and all turned to and helped skin 



