The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-11-29

ing his arms and legs about IN lm1Jaulon
of seals movements. The ice bear can
hear and scent very keenly, but he does
not see well. Nature was not kind enough
to endow him with secondary film to
protect his eyes from snow blindness, and
at this season of the year, when the sun
shines SO much and so brightly, he is in
sad need of dark spectacles. While we
could see him very plainly as we all sat on
the boats and sledges smoking our after
dinner pipes and enjoying the show, like
front rowers at the varieties, he could not
see us at all, though he could hear Boer
wigs Turing grunts and perhaps get a
glimpse of the false fippers which that
bold sailor man was industriously display
ing. Bruin came so near us that without
moving from our seats we could easily
have shot him, but no one was tempted to
do SO.
Our sportsmen have had so many bear
that they have lost zest in the chase, and
as we had no need for his food, much pre-
ferring the reindeer, of which we still have
a considerable supply, and as we could not
take with us his skin, which may put $25
in the pocket of some needy Norwegian
sailor, we told the men not to shoot unless
necessary to save the life of Boervig. This
turned out to be the case, for completely
deceived by the sailors antics, the bear
came within 20 feet of the human seal, af
fording Photographer Dodge a splendid
opportunity to snap his camera at the
beast, and then was about to leap forward
to grasp his prey when Mr.. Franklin's
rifle cracked, and the bear bounded rapid
ly away Mr.. Franklin did not shoot to
kill, only to brighten, and was wholly sue
cessful, for that bear must have made at
least a mile minute in his anxiety to
escape. We had a good laugh at the antics
of Boervig and the mingled caution and
stupidity of the beast. There is an Old saw
in Norway that an ice bear has 10 mems
wit and IL mems strength, but we doubt
the wit part of the adage. He certainly is
sly enough in his regular vocation of seal
catching, but only a very foolish animal
would permit his curiosity to lead him
right into camp of Il dozen men armed
with plenty of winchesters. Curiosity is
the ice bears fatal weakness
Quoting the adage, our men amuse
themselves with discussion as to the
strength of the ice bear. Captain Peder.
sen told a story about bear which he saw
kill a walrus weighing 800 pounds with
a few blows of his good right paw and
then drag his ponderous victim out of the
water and upon the ice. Boervig declared
he had seen an angry bear break the fore
mast of a wrecked schooner on the east
shore of Spitzbergen. Other yarns were
spun to illustrate the enormous strength
of this animal, and then the men again
wished they had pair of bears trained to
pull the boats and slcdges over the ice and
snow.
Wishing For Cold Weather.
We made camp rather early tonight, two
of the men showing signs of illness, prob
ably the effect of too much reindeer meat.
In ~ hours we had covered fully four
miles, or one third the distance across the
bay. Tomorrow we hope to do still better.
Just before camping tonight an ice fog,
the first we have yet seen, came down up
on us from the north, a dense cloud of
white. Curiously enough, it followed the
land. enveioping the islands and main !
land to the east and west long before it
reached us. 1t thus appeared to approach
US in a vast semicircle of white, while to
the south another half circle of black, the
rocks of the highlands at the foot of the i
bay, completed the round and left us in
the center of a sort of amphitheater of
truly magnificent proportions and i'm
pressive appearance. With the fog came !
cold, the temperature gradually dropping
from 39 degrees to 2S12. AS we go to bed !
it is with the wish that the mercury will /
drop lower STILL not only to make our /
sleep more comfortable, but to freeze and
thus improve the road over which we are
to travel tomorrow
JUNE 21.-The longest day of the year,
the day on which the days and nights be- t
come equal the world over and the sun |
circles about the north pole with but a
trifiing difference between his height at
midday and midnight, we find ourselves
slowly along on the north coast /
of Northeast Land We are about in lati-
tude $780, or 20 miles farther south than
we were five weeks ago. This does not
look much like making high northing
with the midsummer day, automatically
at hand, though as a matter of
fact the arctic summer has just begun,
and no progress made to the northward.
But we do not despair. We have had all
sorts of bad luck since the 18th day of !,
May, when we reached the Seven islands.
That phenomenal advance to the north
seemed to exhaust the favors which Dame
Fortune was willing to bestow upon us.
We cannot help contrasting Peary's ex-
perience with ours. He had his ill luck at
the start and his good luck later on
Reachino the northern coast If Snitzhe