untered an
enormous Polar bear. It seated itself presently on its haunches, and
swayed itself gently to and fro, with its head on one side, as if
admiring the Arctic scenery. There was not much more than a space of
five hundred yards between the parties, but owing to the great
promontory which formed an effectual screen between them, and the fact
that the light air blew from the land to the sea, neither bear nor dogs
had scented each other.

It seemed as if Bruin had only just got out of bed, for his little eyes
blinked sleepily, his motions were exceedingly slow, and his yawns were
frequent as well as remonstrative in tone. Doubtless bears, like men,
dislike early rising!

Having gazed at the scenery long enough, and shaken off its lethargy to
some extent, the bear began probably to think of food. Then it arose,
sauntered round the promontory, and presented itself to the more than
astonished gaze of Nunaga, who was the only one that chanced to sit
facing in its direction.

The resulting shriek and its consequences seemed to have a petrifying
effect on the animal, for it stood stock still for some moments, and
simply gazed. This condition of things was instantly changed by three
of the dogs breaking their traces, and rushing wildly at the animal.
With two nimble pats of its great paws it sent two of the dogs into the
air, almost killing them, while the third it dismissed, yelling
hideously, with a bad tear in its flank.

Quick as thought, Ujarak set the other dogs free, and the whole pack ran
open-mouthed at their natural foe, but another dog being promptly sent
away howling, the rest were cowed, and confined themselves to barking
furiously round their powerful foe.

Apparently this was an old bear, confident perhaps in its strength, and
used, it might be, to dog-assaults, for it paid no further attention to
its canine opponents, but advanced with a very threatening aspect
towards the sledge.

It is pretty well-known that two Eskimo men of average strength and
courage are more than a snatch for the Polar bear, if armed with spears.
The mode of attack is simple. The two men separate. The one who
arranges to be the slayer of the animal advances on its left side; the
other on its right. Thus the victim's attention is distracted; it
becomes undecided which foe to attack first. The hunter on the right
settles the question by running in, and giving him a prick with the
spear. Turning in fury on this man, the