he
sun at some little distance, still holding the ice in front to hide his
black muzzle; but this most sagacious of bears was for once outwitted,
for the seals dived into a pool of water before he could get within
reach. On another occasion, a female Bruin having been shot from the
deck of the _Intrepid_, her affectionate cub, an animal about the size
of a large Newfoundland dog, remained resolutely by the side of its
mother, and on the approach of the commander of the _Intrepid_ with part
of his crew, a sort of tournament ensued, in which the youthful bear,
although belaboured most savagely, showed a gallant resistance, and at
length rushing between the legs of the corporal of marines, laid him
prostrate on the ice, floored another man, who had seized hold of his
tail, and effected his escape."

CAPTAIN OMMANEY AND THE POLAR BEAR.

Captain Ommaney,[41] who led one of the travelling parties in 1851 sent
out from the ships under Austin in search of Franklin on the 12th of
June, the day before he arrived at the ships, met with a laughable
accident, although it might have had a serious termination. They had all
of them but just got into their blanket bags, when a peculiar noise, as
if something was rubbing up the snow, was heard outside. The gallant
captain instantly divined its cause, seized, loaded, and cocked his gun,
and ordered the tent door to be opened, upon which a huge bear was seen
outside. Captain Ommaney fired at the animal, but, whether from the
benumbed state of his limbs, or the dim glimmering light, he
unfortunately missed him, and shot away the rope that supported the tent
instead. The enraged monster then poked his head against the poles, and
the tent fell upon its terrified inmates, and embraced them in its
folds. Their confusion and dismay can more easily be imagined than
described, but at length one man, with more self-possession than the
rest, slipped out of his bag, scrambled from under the prostrate tent,
and ran to the sledge for another gun; and it was well that he did so,
for no sooner had he vacated his sleeping sack than Bruin seized it
between his teeth, and shook it violently, with the evident intention of
wreaking his vengeance on its inmate. He was, however, speedily
despatched by a well-aimed shot from the man, the tent was repitched,
and tranquillity restored.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] "Hungary and Transylvania," &c., by John Paget, Esq., vol. ii. p.
445.

[31] "Conversations of Lord Byr