CHAPTER XVI. 
August 7. This morning our friends of the Rescue 
killed a bear. His curiosity cost him his life. When 
first seen, he was swimming toward the brig, breaking 
the newl^^-formed ice with his fore paws. Finding 
his progress by this method unsatis&ctory, he made a 
succession of dives, coming up each time nearer his 
assailants, who were advancing to meet him in a boat. 
He had a strange look as he rose after one of these 
submersions, breaking the ice with his upward mo- 
mentum, panting, and shaking his head like a dog to 
free it from the water. Captain Griffin, who was one 
of our best shots, lodged a ball under his left shoulder 
without effect. Several other bullets struck him be- 
fore he turned to get away ; and even when one of 
them had severed the lumbar vertebra?, the hardy an- 
imal regained the floe, dragging after him his para- 
lyzed extremity. In this condition he was brought to 
bay, and received the coup-de-grace from a bayonet. 
This bear had a coating of fat round the back 
and abdomen, which measured nearly three inches. 
When the animal is in good condition, this investing 
