174 
MY FIRST BEAR. 
' " I killed to-day my first polar bear. We made the 
animal on a large floe to the northward while we were 
sighting- the western shores of Wellington, and of 
course could not stop to shoot bears. But he took to 
the water ahead of us, and came so near that we fired 
at him from the bows of the vessel. Mr. Lovell and 
myself fired so simultaneously, that we had to weigh 
the ball to determine which had hit. My bullet struck 
exactly in the ear, the mark I had aimed at, for he had 
only his head above water. The young ice was form- 
ing so rapidly around us that it was hard work get- 
ting him on board. I was one of the oarsmen, and 
sweated rarely, with the thermometer at 25°. 
" On the way back I succeeded in hitting an enor- 
mous seal ; but, much to my mortification, he sunk, 
after floating till we nearly reached him. 
" Without any organization, and with very little 
time for the hunt, the Advance now counts upon her 
game list two polar bears, three seals, a single goose, 
and a fair table allowance of loons, divers, and snipes. 
The Rescue boasts of four bears, and, in addition to 
the small game, a couple of Arctic hares. Our solita- 
ry goose was the Anas bernicla, crowds of which now 
begin to fly over the land and ice in cunoid streams 
to the east of south. It was killed by Mr. Murdaugh 
with a rifle, on the wing. 
" How very much I miss my good home assortment 
of hunting materials ! We have not a decent gun on 
board ; as for the rifle I am now shooting, it is a flint- 
lock concern, and half the time hangs fire." 
The next morning found me at work skinning my 
bear, not a pleasant task with the thermometer below 
the freezing point. He was a noble specimen, larger 
than the largest recorded by Parry, measuring eight 
I 
