132 
VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
it left in the snow, and which from curiosity I 
measured, and found the length of the impression 
of the hind paw to be one foot ten inches, and its 
breadth one foot, and that of the fore paw one foot 
one inch in length, and one foot in breadth. A fog 
hastily came on, which, though it hid the bear from 
our sight, gave us the opportunity long after, of 
hearing his loud growl ings ; whether they proceeded 
from disappointment at not having attained the food 
of which he was in search, or whether they were 
love strains to apprize some favourite of his ap- 
proach, I must leave to more competent judges to 
determine. 
The fog dispersing at eight o’clock in 
the morning, we endeavoured to proceed 
round a compact patch '^ of ice that impeded us in 
our western course ; several unicorns were seen, 
and I went in a boat after them without success, 
as they retired under the ice. I waited their return 
for some time, but they were too shy to allow a 
harpoon to be thrown into them ; I therefore fired 
a shell at one that was rapidly passing along at 
some distance, having an extraordinary large horn ; 
but it passed about an inch above his back, and 
after repeatedly bounding from the surface of the 
water, it burst at least half a mile distant. 
Just as we were sitting down to dinner, the man 
at the mast head, called out that a great bear had 
* A compact patch of ice, is a collection of pieces of considerable 
magnitude with openings among them, the extent of which patch is 
visible. 
