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M A M M A L S OF N O R T H E R N C A N A D A 225
bear was observed from the ship, and as the captain was
desirous of procuring a suitable specimen, he ordered his
chief mate, John Hackland, to lower and man one of the
boats for this purpose. The Company's surgeon ( H . S. Bed-dome)
with several of the cabin passengers, myself included,
obtained permission to accompany him. As soon as bruin
perceived the boat proceeding i n his direction, instead of
being scared, he boldly advanced to meet us, and we were
therefore not long i n coming to close quarters. A couple
of shots were fired at him, one of which evidently struck
home, as he immediately turned t a i l and set off at a rapid
and much blood- marked pace over the ice. After a hot pursuit
we gave up the chase, as it was impossible to follow
h im with the boat or on the moving masses of floating ice.
We then returned to the ship greatly disappointed at the loss
of such a fine animal. Next morning another bear was seen,
but at a considerable distance; but we were more fortunate
on a subsequent occasion, while we were similarly delayed
by ice near the centre of Hudson Bay. This attempt by
the same boat party was crowned b y the capture of a much
larger polar bear than Captain H e r d had ever observed in
the course of the twenty voyages then made by h im between
London and Y o r k Factory. It was an old veteran, and had
evidently participated i n many a hard- fought battle for food
and love, the proof marks of which were deep and many
i n number. The last great fight for l i f e was the culminati
n g point of a career which surely entitled h im to hold the
position of the unquestioned championship of the white bears
of Hudson Bay. The sailor i n the crow's- nest was the first
to perceive the bear, at less than a mile's distance. He
appeared to be engaged i n a fierce combat w i t h some large
animal, which turned out to be the case. When we came
up to h im he only had had time to partake of a few mouth-fuls
of the warm flesh of an enormous seal ( Erignathus bar-batus)
which had been k i l l e d by h im after a terrible struggle,
evidences of this being p l a i n l y visible. He looked as i f he
was very angry indeed at our unseasonable interruption of
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| Title | Page 248 |
| OCR | M A M M A L S OF N O R T H E R N C A N A D A 225 bear was observed from the ship, and as the captain was desirous of procuring a suitable specimen, he ordered his chief mate, John Hackland, to lower and man one of the boats for this purpose. The Company's surgeon ( H . S. Bed-dome) with several of the cabin passengers, myself included, obtained permission to accompany him. As soon as bruin perceived the boat proceeding i n his direction, instead of being scared, he boldly advanced to meet us, and we were therefore not long i n coming to close quarters. A couple of shots were fired at him, one of which evidently struck home, as he immediately turned t a i l and set off at a rapid and much blood- marked pace over the ice. After a hot pursuit we gave up the chase, as it was impossible to follow h im with the boat or on the moving masses of floating ice. We then returned to the ship greatly disappointed at the loss of such a fine animal. Next morning another bear was seen, but at a considerable distance; but we were more fortunate on a subsequent occasion, while we were similarly delayed by ice near the centre of Hudson Bay. This attempt by the same boat party was crowned b y the capture of a much larger polar bear than Captain H e r d had ever observed in the course of the twenty voyages then made by h im between London and Y o r k Factory. It was an old veteran, and had evidently participated i n many a hard- fought battle for food and love, the proof marks of which were deep and many i n number. The last great fight for l i f e was the culminati n g point of a career which surely entitled h im to hold the position of the unquestioned championship of the white bears of Hudson Bay. The sailor i n the crow's- nest was the first to perceive the bear, at less than a mile's distance. He appeared to be engaged i n a fierce combat w i t h some large animal, which turned out to be the case. When we came up to h im he only had had time to partake of a few mouth-fuls of the warm flesh of an enormous seal ( Erignathus bar-batus) which had been k i l l e d by h im after a terrible struggle, evidences of this being p l a i n l y visible. He looked as i f he was very angry indeed at our unseasonable interruption of |
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