Evening star., 1922-10-29

Getting on my legs, I seized my gun
when Nansen fired and the bear fell
down dead beside the pool"
THE experience of DR.. Bergen at
i Sabine Island. on the east coast
of Greenland, as related by Lieut..
Payer leaves no doubt as to the pos
sibility of attack:
I'VE were sitting fortunately silent
in the cabin when Holloway sud-
denly heard a faint cry for help. We
all hurriedly tumbled up the compan-
ion ladder to the deck, when an ex-
clamation from Bergen, "A bear is
CARRYING me offv struck painfully on
our ears.
"It was dark. We could scarcely
see anything. But we made directly
for the quarter whence the cry pro-
ceeded, armed with poles. weapons.
etc, over hummocks and drifts. when
an alarm shot. which we fired In the
air, seemed to make some little I'M
preston, as the bear dropped his
prey and ran forward few PAGES.
He turned again, however, dragging
his victim over the broken shore ice
close to a field which stretched in a
northerly direction. All depended
upon our coming up with him before
he should reach this field. as he would
carry his prey over the open plain
with the speed of horse and thus
escape. We succeeded. The bear
turned upon US for a moment and
then, scared by our continuous fire.
let fall his prey. We lifted our poor
comrade up onto the ice, to bear
him to his cabin-a task which was
rendered somewhat difficult by the
slippery and uneven surface of the
ice. But after we had gone a little
way Bergen implored US to make as
much haste as possible. On proc1r-
ing a light the coolest nature would
have been shocked at the spectacle
which poor Bergen presented. The
bear had torn ehis scalp in several
places and he had received injuries in
other parts of his body. His clothes
and hair were saturated with blood"
Several other instances of attack
might be mentioned, but the above
will suffice to convince the reader
that necessary precautions should be
taken against this danger, especially
in the early spring, when seal, the
staple food OF the bear. are not plen-
tiful, owing to the tightly packed
condition Of the ice and consequently
the absence Of o6en pools or leads Of
water.
A LMOST daily fresh tracks were re-
"A ported about the shores of the
harbor On the 22d Whitehouse and
Small returned from the north shore
with the news that the land was
crossed and criss-crossed with tracks
Of two bears. All our meat caches
had been destroyed and camping
equipment left there tossed about
over the snow. On the 9th and ssth
a bear helped himself from our meat
supply within fifty yards of the stern
Of the Bowdoin. We were more anx-
ious than ever now to see our new
night boarder. Our wish was grati-
fed on the 30th, on which morning I
, happened to row ashore before break
fast after two ave-gallon tins Of
water.
AS stepped out Of the dory I no.
ticed fresh tracks, and. upon looking
up, there was Mr.. Bear himself. strid-
ing across level track between me
and the water hole. My customary
and only weapon was missing-my
camera. Jumping into the dory, I
rowed back quickly to the Bowdoin
and called to Small and Broomfield,
! who were on deck, to get their rifles
In the meantime the bear had gone
in a direct line toward our walrus
meat cache, where he stood facing .