148 
crew had put a piece of blubber to the 
fire, and, allured by the smell, a very 
large bear came and put his nose over 
the gunwale. One of the harpooners 
shot him; but a squall coming on, we 
did not bring the carcase on board. 
From the 16th to the 21st, we caught 
four whales, of various sizes. The wea¬ 
ther was now getting hazy, as it general¬ 
ly does at this season of the year, and 
the whales were become more difficult 
to catch. 
22d, Spoke the Catharina Elizabeth, 
of Hanover, Captain Schultz, after being 
a considerable time separated from the 
rest of the Greenland ships. From her 
we learned that a French frigate, and 
some smaller vessels, were in the North. 
This intelligence determined us not to 
lessen our distance from Spitzbergen, but 
to shape our course to England by the 
Feroe Isles. This determination, how¬ 
ever, had nearly sent us to a French 
