Part 6 (1/2)

Southey, in his admirable life,[39] records an instance of his hardihood on this expedition:--”One night, during the mid-watch, he stole from the s.h.i.+p with one of his comrades, taking advantage of a rising fog, and set off over the ice in pursuit of a bear. It was not long before they were missed. The fog thickened, and Captain Lutwidge and his officers became exceedingly alarmed for their safety. Between three and four in the morning the weather cleared, and the two adventurers were seen at a considerable distance from the s.h.i.+p attacking a huge bear. The signal for them to return was immediately made; Nelsons' comrade called upon him to obey it, but in vain; his musket had flashed in the pan; their ammunition was expended; and a chasm in the ice, which divided him from the bear, probably preserved his life. 'Never mind,' he cried; 'do but let me get a blow at this devil with the b.u.t.t-end of my musket, and we shall have him.' Captain Lutwidge, however, seeing his danger, fired a gun, which had the desired effect of frightening the beast; and the boy then returned, somewhat afraid of the consequences of his trespa.s.s. The captain reprimanded him sternly for conduct so unworthy of the office which he filled, and desired to know what motive he could have for hunting a bear. 'Sir,' said he, pouting his lip, as he was wont to do when agitated, 'I wished to kill the bear, that I might carry the skin to my father.'”

A CLEVER POLAR BEAR.

Mr Markham,[40] when the s.h.i.+p _a.s.sistance_ was in the Wellington Channel, observed several bears prowling about in search of seals. ”On one occasion,” he writes, ”I saw a bear swimming across a lane of water, and pus.h.i.+ng a large piece of ice before him. Landing on the floe, he advanced stealthily towards a couple of seals, which were basking in the 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 rus.h.i.+ng 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 s.h.i.+ps under Austin in search of Franklin on the 12th of June, the day before he arrived at the s.h.i.+ps, 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 c.o.c.ked 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 Byron,” p. 72.

[32] ”Master Humphrey's Clock.”

[33] Mark Lemon, ”Jest Book,” p. 331

[34] [Greek: Thala.s.sa], sea; [Greek: arktos], bear.

[35] Those ”Arctic hedge-rows,” as Mr David Walker calls them, when, on the 30th November 1857, he was on board the Arctic yacht _Fox_, wintering in the floe-ice of Baffin's Bay. ”The scene apparent on going on deck after breakfast was splendid, and unlike anything I ever saw before. The subdued light of the moon thrown over such a vast expanse of ice, in the distance the loom of a berg, or the shadow of the hummocks (the Arctic hedge-rows), the only thing to break the even surface, a few stars peeping out, as if gazing in wonder at the spectacle,--all united to render the prospect striking, and lead one to contemplate the goodness and power of the Creator.” On the 2d November, they had killed a bear, which had been bayed and surrounded by their Esquimaux dogs.

Captain M'Clintock shot him. He was 7 feet 3 inches long. Only one of the dogs was injured by his paws. Much did the hungry beasts enjoy their feast, for they ”were regaled with the entrails, which they polished off in a very short time.”--_Mr Walker, in_ _”Belfast News Letter,” quoted in ”Dublin Natural History Review,” 1858_, p. 180.

[36] ”Account of Arctic Regions,” i. 517.

[37] The anecdote is given with more detail at p. 67.

[38] ”Attempt to Reach the North Pole,” p. 115.

[39] ”Life of Nelson,” by Robert Southey, Esq., LL.D., Poet Laureate, p.

11.

[40] ”Franklin's Footsteps,” by Clement R. Markham, p. 65.

[41] ”Franklin's Footsteps,” by Clement Robert Markham, late of H.M.S.

_a.s.sistance_, p. 93.

RACc.o.o.n.