The Portland daily press., 1886-09-07
ANARcTIc BEAR HUNT.
The Lucky Shot that Saved the Lives
of CreeIy's Party.
philadelphia Times.l

philadelphia Times.l
Sergeant Francis Long. of Brooklyn,
survivor of the Greedy Arctic expedition, tells
the following bear story, which has hitherto
been scarcely more than mentioned in the
accounts of Starvation Camp. He says:
Bacon shrimps and sealskin stew, all in
small quantities, had been our fare for over
two weeks and there was not full round of
rations left. More than half the men in
camp were incapable of work, but that was
little matter, for there was no more to do
than three could handle. The steady cold
made us all drowsy and there was the worst
danger in sleep. If man was allowed to
have his sleep out he would certainly never
wake, so we had to make rule that no one
should sleep more than two hours at a time
1t began to look with only one day hetWeen
us and starvation, as il 1t might pc better
for us all to go to sleep together and dle un-
conscious of the terrible cold and the pangs
of the hunger. We had plenty of hunting,
fishing and cooking utensils, ammunition and
all that, but what good were they? Ihere
was no game, no fish. During all OF our
camp we caught only two fish. was the
hunter of the party, and had tramped the re-
gion over and over, and rarely had the luck
to get a shot at anything.
AN ARCTIC BEAR.
1.-The day before we came to our last round
of rations / had discovered the tracks of
bear. had followed them about until was
exhausted trying to meet the beast but had
utterly failed On this day light snow fell
in the morning, Just enough to obscure the
trail, but still hunted. gave 1t up late IN
the afternoon and returned to camp. BRAIN
erd had gone to the shrimping ground, ana
was still absent when l laid by my gun.
Suddenly he appeared running down Gene
tery Ridge as fast as his poor weak legs
would bring him. We all started up and
waited his coming in the most painful excite
ment When he reached the camp he fell 10
the ground all out of breath Inc men
crawled to his assistance, and two OF them
raised his head in their arms. He gasped
and looked at us wildly ,.
:. 'Brainerd,, exclaimed the Lieutenant
what is it?"
"Where, man, whereY l cried reaching foE
my gun, all trembling and quivering with
4 There he said, family, pointing towards
the ridge. He followed after me, He's
coming.
"How can / tell the terrible excitement
that prevailed? The men were in perfect
frenzy Cruel suffering had made them
worse than unreasonable. Some OIL them
could think of nothing but cursing poor
Brainerd for not killing the bear and were
him to wreak vengeance He had not taken
his gun WIFI ulil1 HOUOuy CNOl uAO WIN
shrimping, and they cursed and rayed at
that and burst into tears at the loss OF their
last chance for life. Others, and they were
the weakest men in the party, were for start
ing out at once for an all night hunt over the
snoWfields and icebergs. Nothing could be
more foolhardy. They couldn't have gone
beyond the top of the ridge without breaking
down, to say nothing Of carrying gun and
firing accurately. The Lieutenant used his
authority and my influence to quiet the
Of 10 10 n1on Of the hnDf
arranged. 1t was really only few minutes
but it seemed an hour. Jan, the Esquimau,
and l started up the ridge to meet the bear II
he should continue toward US.
Hardly had we got rod from the camp
when long white nose appeared over an
ice covered rock at the top of the hill. The
men sent up shout and think 1t unnerved
me, but it was long range shot-nsarly
three hundred yards-and the target was
small. l raised my gun and, taking quick
aim, fred. The ball missed, but it did not go
wide of is mark. The bear was startled.
He paused just too short time to give the
Esquimau chance at him and turned tail
and ran. heard the hOwls and groans OF
Disappointment and rage behind me. l believe
that some of those poor, half-Starved, half
frozen men would have shot at me in their
guns at hand.
left and go around the ridge and keep well
to the west, so as to get between the bear and
the water. / will go the same way on the
east: ~,
plan at once and set out without word. |
crawled to the top of the ridge as fast as l
could and saw the bear long way off out of
range, still on the run. He turned around
for second looked back, and then, as II sat
istied that he was pursued, continued hlS
flight l didn't go straight after him but
keeping out of his sight as much as possible
craWled and ran and slid up and down the
icy slopes making all the time for the water
was feverish with fear. 1t seemed as IL
every possible obstruction got in my way,
and many a time / fell to the ground. 1t was
| a terrible chase. May never have another
| like it.
"It seems incredible now, but | actually
| went ten miles out of my way to get In front
| of the bear. l knew that he would stop run
| ming when he got over his scare and saw no.
| body in pursuit, and had to take this round
| about course to keep out OF Slght, Mlgnty
| little of that distance was passed on the run
| Most of it was crawled. But l had nc
! thought of giving up. plugged on, and at
| last, two hours and half after leaving camp
| gained the position wanted. climbed a
! low hill and there was bruin, 1000 yards
/ away, sitting down after his hard run WITHIN
| thirty yards of open water. l had not sue
| ceeded fully in my plan. He could still es-
| cape, but his back was towards me and DID
/ not despair. Almost at the same moment
that saw the bear ! discovered jan, tne
| Esquimau, at some distance, and we both
| made for the beast With the utmost care
1 not to alarm him we crawled over the ground
| approached nearer and nearer to our prey.
| We had got perhaps half the distance when
| Jan raised his gun and fired. | think it was
| bad Judgment, for we might have got much
| closer. But there was no time for regret
Excitement gave me more strength and ran
with all my might straight toward the bear
He got up and looked at me and seemed no
| to know whether to run again or stand anC
| make fight of it. / resisted the temptation
to fire at him until was within one hundred
and fifty yards; Then 1 stopped running
threw my cap down, pulled off my mitten'
and acted as deliberately as if were ou
practicing at target
i'My excitement seemed to leave me, OF
rather to make me steady. took a lone
careful aim and fired. The bear turned
slightly, but it was evident that had mlsset
heart sunk low. Jan had not been able t.
get another shot and was not now where h
| fire with any hope of hitting. He began II
make for the water. Ready to die with de
spair if should fail again. took anothe
/ long aim, The bullet struck the bear IN TN
head and he tumbled over instantly, ston'
dead.
st was half-past 8 o'clock and the plae
where bruin fell was three miles in straigh
line for camp. We left the four hundre'
pounds of food lying on the ice and returned
to the anxious party to get help in bringln
the carcass home. We did not sleep tina
night. The Lieutenant gave out extra ra
tions to the men who assisted in the worl
and we got up stew of all the scraps tina
were left of the regular rations. 1t WASH
much, but it seemed quite feast to us. In
bear saved us, for Just before it in its tur
gave out theIrescuing expedition found as.
AND THE LABORING, AND LOWE
CLASSES; THOSE PEOPLE WHO La
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