64 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
came head over heels right on to the beach, within 
20 yards of me. I slipped in another cartridge and 
advanced cautiously. He lay still, with his legs 
towards me, and, after making a detour, I approached 
him from the other side, carefully keeping the rifle 
pointed until I got close enough to kick him. He 
stood this indignity, so I concluded he was dead. 
On examining him, I found my bullet had entered 
at just the right spot behind the shoulder, and, as 
I found later, had gone clean through his heart. 
The *577 Snider bullet, with its plugged base, made 
a hole as clean-cut as if it had been bored out with 
an auger. My boat, which had fallen in with and 
killed an otter on its way towards the point, now 
came up. It was impossible to land, or for me to get 
to the boat, so they hove a line with a club attached 
to it into the surf. This was thrown up on to the rocks, 
and I soon had it round the bear’s neck. Fortu¬ 
nately, the slope was considerable, and by dint of 
my heaving, and those in the boat hauling, we got 
the animal into the surf, where he was soon dragged 
clear, and, being too big to be got into the boat, 
was towed away to the vessel. Neither skin nor 
flesh was in very good condition. At that time of 
year the bears live chiefly on fish, and the flesh 
becomes very rank. 
From time to time whilst pulling or sailing along 
the coast we saw many bears, but I did not bag 
another that season, as, although I killed one from 
my boat, on the top of a cliff, it was not practicable 
to land and secure it. We had many heavy blows, 
and constantly had to run for shelter to “ Jap Bay.” 
Towards the end of the season we ran over to the 
east side anchorage, and there we found a small 
