136 
VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
The bear is possessed of uncommon strength, and 
when beset, defends itself with most extraordinary 
obstinacy. A particular instance is thus related by 
Captain Lewis : ‘‘ A party of six hunters attacked 
a bear, and when at the distance of forty yards, four 
of them fired, and each lodged a musket-ball in its 
body, two of which passed directly through the 
lungs. The justly enraged animal ran at them with 
open mouth, and as it came near, the two men who 
had reserved their fire gave it two wounds, and 
broke its shoulder, which retarded its motion for a 
moment, but before they could re-load, it was so 
near, that they were obliged to run to the river, and 
before they reached it, the bear had almost over- 
taken them: two jumped into the canoe, the other 
four separated, concealed themselves and fired as 
fast as they could load ; they struck it several 
times, but this only exasperated it ; and at last, it 
pursued two of them so closely, that they jumped 
down a perpendicular bank of twenty feet in height 
into the water ; the bear sprang after them, and 
was within a few feet of the hindermost, when one 
of the hunters on shore, shot it in the head and 
killed it. They dragged it to the shore, and found 
that eight balls had passed through its body.” In 
many instances, the bear has been said to have 
attacked persons, when not opposed, and an interest- 
ing narrative of that fact is related by Barentz in 
his voyage in search of a north-east passage to 
China. In the island of Nova Zembla, the bears 
attacked his men, seizing them in their mouths, 
