[Contents]CHAPTER XVCHAPTER XVMORE BEARSSeptember second we were working down the eastern coast of Baffin Island, intending to cross over Baffin Bay toward Holsteinsborg to get the Hobbs party. There was no ice to speak of, only a few scattered bergs, and the weather continued to be pretty nice, sunny and quite warm, which was very unusual for this time of year.Just at seven o’clock in the morning Dad woke me up and said that there were three bears on a small berg near us. Ralph and Jim, the same watch that discovered the first bear, had seen them. All hands turned out so we would not miss the fun.Carl was getting his rope ready while Art[157]got out his bow and arrows for the hunt. No guns were to be used. Dad wanted to have this entirely a stunt for the bow and the roping, and for motion pictures. Kellerman had his two big motion picture cameras on deck, and a good many of the crowd were using their still cameras. Also Bob Peary had a small movie camera but he was on watch in the engine room so I ran it for him the best I could!TheMorrisseywent right up close to the berg and we got a lot of pictures. There was a big mother bear and two cubs which had been born about February, they told me. They were pretty big and husky and weighed probably more than 150 pounds each. It was queer to see the bear away out here in the water, nearly twenty miles from land. But later Mr. Rasmussen told us often they travel hundreds of miles almost all the way in the water. Swimming seems to be about as easy for them as walking. Cap’n Bob[158]has found them swimming away down off the Labrador.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.As we got close the old bear walked right down to the water’s edge with the two cubs following. We headed away from the berg and swung around to leeward to let them calm down. That seemed to satisfy them. Perhaps they thought the ship was just a big dirty piece of ice.Anyway, they went back up on the ice and settled down. The two cubs lay down close to the mother, and Harry, looking through the glasses, said he could see that they were getting their breakfast.When we came close again for Art to get a bow and arrow shot the old bear got really worried and made for the water. They swam off in a row that looked like three butter balls, the old one first and the two little ones trailing. They are not really quite white, but seem to be sort of yellowish, almost butter color, especially when just their heads[159]show in the water. Their black noses show out more than anything and their eyes.We came within thirty feet of them in theMorrisseytwo or three times, taking pictures. The mother bear would turn around and growl at us, and sort of grunt to the children to hustle along and get away from this strange creature that was following them.We wanted to get them back on the berg, if possible, so we put a dory over with Carl in it and rowed by Ralph and Joe, to try to herd them toward the ice again. Several times after a lot of trouble they got them headed back near the ice but they wouldn’t go up on it again. It was a queer game of tag.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.In the meantime Jim on board was working on a rough cage for the cubs because Dad had decided to get them alive if it were possible to take them home to the Bronx Zoo at New York. At first they were going to let me shoot one as I did want to get a bear quite[160]by myself. But I agreed that it would be a lot better to get them alive if possible. It happens that in 1910 Cap’n Bob up right near here captured the huge polar bear that has been at the Zoo ever since, “Silver King.” He died last year.Art got out on the bowsprit with his bow and arrows and a file with which he gave the big two-inch steel blades of the arrows a last sharpening.Kellerman, at his camera, asked Art if he was ready. Art said he was all ready. So Cap’n Bob took the vessel right up close to them again. The first time Art couldn’t shoot because one of the cubs was swimming almost on top of the big bear. So we made another circle and came up on them again. It was a lot of trouble, because there was quite a rough swell and for the camera fixed up at the bow on the starboard side you had to get the vessel into position pretty exactly.[161]Art fired his big bow. By the way, it’s got about a ninety-five pound pull which means it’s all a very strong man can do to even get the string back and the bow bent, far less aim it and all that. I can’t even bend the bow half way. I’ve seen Art put the arrows through two-inch planks of soft wood.The first two arrows hit the big bear in the back. It was a hard mark, just the neck and a bit of body showing in the water, and Art standing in a mean place on the bowsprit, and the boat rolling a good deal.The bear turned around and roared and sort of cuffed at one of the cubs who was close. On the next circle Art used two more arrows and I guess one went into her pretty deep. She bled a lot and her head went under the water. Then she came up and kind of rubbed noses with the cubs and then her head dropped again. She was dead. And I guess it was the first time a polar bear ever has been killed with a bow and arrow, certainly since[162]the days when the Eskimos used primitive weapons.The cubs stayed around the body until Carl in the dory came up close. Then they swam off, barking like a whole kennel of dogs. We hoisted the big bear on board and covered her with a tarp. Then we started after the cubs, and it was about the most exciting thing I think I have ever seen, and an awful lot of fun.Carl sort of wedged himself up in the bow of the dory, which was bobbing around a lot in the swell, and the men rowed him towards the cubs as theMorrisseyworked in close where Kel could get the pictures.The very first shot Carl got his bear. He swung his rope about his head in the air and let it go. The noose fell as fine as could be right around the cub’s head. It was a great show. The folks back in Pendleton, Oregon, who sent us that rope for Carl would have been tickled to death. And right there[163]Dad said we would call one of the cubs “Cowboy.” The first one was to be named “Cap’n Bob.”The little bear didn’t know what had happened until they began pulling him in. Then he commenced growling and snarling and barking. When Carl got him alongside the dory he chewed at the rope and scratched and tore at the boat and at Carl and tried to climb aboard. He certainly was full of fight. One clean swipe from his claw would be enough to rip an arm off, I suppose. Carl wore heavy gloves and leather wristlets.When the bear tried to climb in Carl would bat him in the face with his hand or pry his paws off the gunwale. He bit at Carl and was real snooty. It was a great party. After a while, when he had towed the dory about a bit, Carl managed to get a rope sling down around his body behind his shoulders, and with this he was hoisted aboard with a tackle.Coming up and on deck he bit everything[164]he could get at and tried to tear the sails he reached, and generally raised Ned. We hoisted him up in the air and with a smaller rope sort of led and dragged him forward to the cage which was on the port side of the ship by the bow. We had to lift him over the jumbo and lower him on the other side into the entrance of his cage.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.On the way he knocked down the galley stove pipe. Then we put a line around one of his front paws and then put the line under the bottom of the cage and pulled down on it for all we were worth. We got his head down in that way and then we all had to push his hind quarters. After about half an hour we had him in the cage.Then Carl went out and roped the other cub, who had swam away about a quarter of a mile. This one we got over on top of the cage all right but then when Will was standing up leaning on the jumbo boom the bear jumped right up at him and Will just got away in time.[165]The bear landed just where he had been. It was very close. We got him in the cage the same as the other one.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.We gave them a duck and to our surprise they ate it all up in a minute. It is very unusual for an animal to eat so soon after he is in captivity. They must have been pretty hungry on that berg. We thought we would see how they liked the dog food we had on board, in cans. It’s called Ken-l-Rations and is pretty good stuff even for men. The Eskimos North liked it a lot. Well, our bears just loved it. They actually will bite chunks of it off a big spoon which Carl holds through the side of the cage. Dad has asked him to look after “Cap’n Bob” and “Cowboy.”And that really ended the expedition. Of course there was plenty more, and it was a month before we got home.After getting the bear cubs we went across Baffin Bay to Holsteinsborg and picked up the[166]Hobbs party. Then we started home. And the first day out we dropped our tail shaft and propeller, a third of the way across Davis Strait. That meant we had to go the rest of the distance to Sydney without any engine. We made those 1400 miles with sails alone, and we had a couple of grand gales and a real hard time getting through Belle Isle Straits and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, what with fogs and head winds. It took 15 days of sailing. But it was sort of a fine way to finish up a trip[167]on a vessel which was really meant for sails alone before we put in the engine.And this, now that I’m back from Greenland, I’m writing on theMorrisseyas we’re in sight of Cape Breton Island. And it all will be sent down by railroad from Sydney and perhaps the little book will be about ready by the time we’re back home—which is a pretty good place to be![169]
[Contents]CHAPTER XVCHAPTER XVMORE BEARSSeptember second we were working down the eastern coast of Baffin Island, intending to cross over Baffin Bay toward Holsteinsborg to get the Hobbs party. There was no ice to speak of, only a few scattered bergs, and the weather continued to be pretty nice, sunny and quite warm, which was very unusual for this time of year.Just at seven o’clock in the morning Dad woke me up and said that there were three bears on a small berg near us. Ralph and Jim, the same watch that discovered the first bear, had seen them. All hands turned out so we would not miss the fun.Carl was getting his rope ready while Art[157]got out his bow and arrows for the hunt. No guns were to be used. Dad wanted to have this entirely a stunt for the bow and the roping, and for motion pictures. Kellerman had his two big motion picture cameras on deck, and a good many of the crowd were using their still cameras. Also Bob Peary had a small movie camera but he was on watch in the engine room so I ran it for him the best I could!TheMorrisseywent right up close to the berg and we got a lot of pictures. There was a big mother bear and two cubs which had been born about February, they told me. They were pretty big and husky and weighed probably more than 150 pounds each. It was queer to see the bear away out here in the water, nearly twenty miles from land. But later Mr. Rasmussen told us often they travel hundreds of miles almost all the way in the water. Swimming seems to be about as easy for them as walking. Cap’n Bob[158]has found them swimming away down off the Labrador.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.As we got close the old bear walked right down to the water’s edge with the two cubs following. We headed away from the berg and swung around to leeward to let them calm down. That seemed to satisfy them. Perhaps they thought the ship was just a big dirty piece of ice.Anyway, they went back up on the ice and settled down. The two cubs lay down close to the mother, and Harry, looking through the glasses, said he could see that they were getting their breakfast.When we came close again for Art to get a bow and arrow shot the old bear got really worried and made for the water. They swam off in a row that looked like three butter balls, the old one first and the two little ones trailing. They are not really quite white, but seem to be sort of yellowish, almost butter color, especially when just their heads[159]show in the water. Their black noses show out more than anything and their eyes.We came within thirty feet of them in theMorrisseytwo or three times, taking pictures. The mother bear would turn around and growl at us, and sort of grunt to the children to hustle along and get away from this strange creature that was following them.We wanted to get them back on the berg, if possible, so we put a dory over with Carl in it and rowed by Ralph and Joe, to try to herd them toward the ice again. Several times after a lot of trouble they got them headed back near the ice but they wouldn’t go up on it again. It was a queer game of tag.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.In the meantime Jim on board was working on a rough cage for the cubs because Dad had decided to get them alive if it were possible to take them home to the Bronx Zoo at New York. At first they were going to let me shoot one as I did want to get a bear quite[160]by myself. But I agreed that it would be a lot better to get them alive if possible. It happens that in 1910 Cap’n Bob up right near here captured the huge polar bear that has been at the Zoo ever since, “Silver King.” He died last year.Art got out on the bowsprit with his bow and arrows and a file with which he gave the big two-inch steel blades of the arrows a last sharpening.Kellerman, at his camera, asked Art if he was ready. Art said he was all ready. So Cap’n Bob took the vessel right up close to them again. The first time Art couldn’t shoot because one of the cubs was swimming almost on top of the big bear. So we made another circle and came up on them again. It was a lot of trouble, because there was quite a rough swell and for the camera fixed up at the bow on the starboard side you had to get the vessel into position pretty exactly.[161]Art fired his big bow. By the way, it’s got about a ninety-five pound pull which means it’s all a very strong man can do to even get the string back and the bow bent, far less aim it and all that. I can’t even bend the bow half way. I’ve seen Art put the arrows through two-inch planks of soft wood.The first two arrows hit the big bear in the back. It was a hard mark, just the neck and a bit of body showing in the water, and Art standing in a mean place on the bowsprit, and the boat rolling a good deal.The bear turned around and roared and sort of cuffed at one of the cubs who was close. On the next circle Art used two more arrows and I guess one went into her pretty deep. She bled a lot and her head went under the water. Then she came up and kind of rubbed noses with the cubs and then her head dropped again. She was dead. And I guess it was the first time a polar bear ever has been killed with a bow and arrow, certainly since[162]the days when the Eskimos used primitive weapons.The cubs stayed around the body until Carl in the dory came up close. Then they swam off, barking like a whole kennel of dogs. We hoisted the big bear on board and covered her with a tarp. Then we started after the cubs, and it was about the most exciting thing I think I have ever seen, and an awful lot of fun.Carl sort of wedged himself up in the bow of the dory, which was bobbing around a lot in the swell, and the men rowed him towards the cubs as theMorrisseyworked in close where Kel could get the pictures.The very first shot Carl got his bear. He swung his rope about his head in the air and let it go. The noose fell as fine as could be right around the cub’s head. It was a great show. The folks back in Pendleton, Oregon, who sent us that rope for Carl would have been tickled to death. And right there[163]Dad said we would call one of the cubs “Cowboy.” The first one was to be named “Cap’n Bob.”The little bear didn’t know what had happened until they began pulling him in. Then he commenced growling and snarling and barking. When Carl got him alongside the dory he chewed at the rope and scratched and tore at the boat and at Carl and tried to climb aboard. He certainly was full of fight. One clean swipe from his claw would be enough to rip an arm off, I suppose. Carl wore heavy gloves and leather wristlets.When the bear tried to climb in Carl would bat him in the face with his hand or pry his paws off the gunwale. He bit at Carl and was real snooty. It was a great party. After a while, when he had towed the dory about a bit, Carl managed to get a rope sling down around his body behind his shoulders, and with this he was hoisted aboard with a tackle.Coming up and on deck he bit everything[164]he could get at and tried to tear the sails he reached, and generally raised Ned. We hoisted him up in the air and with a smaller rope sort of led and dragged him forward to the cage which was on the port side of the ship by the bow. We had to lift him over the jumbo and lower him on the other side into the entrance of his cage.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.On the way he knocked down the galley stove pipe. Then we put a line around one of his front paws and then put the line under the bottom of the cage and pulled down on it for all we were worth. We got his head down in that way and then we all had to push his hind quarters. After about half an hour we had him in the cage.Then Carl went out and roped the other cub, who had swam away about a quarter of a mile. This one we got over on top of the cage all right but then when Will was standing up leaning on the jumbo boom the bear jumped right up at him and Will just got away in time.[165]The bear landed just where he had been. It was very close. We got him in the cage the same as the other one.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.We gave them a duck and to our surprise they ate it all up in a minute. It is very unusual for an animal to eat so soon after he is in captivity. They must have been pretty hungry on that berg. We thought we would see how they liked the dog food we had on board, in cans. It’s called Ken-l-Rations and is pretty good stuff even for men. The Eskimos North liked it a lot. Well, our bears just loved it. They actually will bite chunks of it off a big spoon which Carl holds through the side of the cage. Dad has asked him to look after “Cap’n Bob” and “Cowboy.”And that really ended the expedition. Of course there was plenty more, and it was a month before we got home.After getting the bear cubs we went across Baffin Bay to Holsteinsborg and picked up the[166]Hobbs party. Then we started home. And the first day out we dropped our tail shaft and propeller, a third of the way across Davis Strait. That meant we had to go the rest of the distance to Sydney without any engine. We made those 1400 miles with sails alone, and we had a couple of grand gales and a real hard time getting through Belle Isle Straits and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, what with fogs and head winds. It took 15 days of sailing. But it was sort of a fine way to finish up a trip[167]on a vessel which was really meant for sails alone before we put in the engine.And this, now that I’m back from Greenland, I’m writing on theMorrisseyas we’re in sight of Cape Breton Island. And it all will be sent down by railroad from Sydney and perhaps the little book will be about ready by the time we’re back home—which is a pretty good place to be![169]
CHAPTER XVCHAPTER XVMORE BEARS
CHAPTER XV
September second we were working down the eastern coast of Baffin Island, intending to cross over Baffin Bay toward Holsteinsborg to get the Hobbs party. There was no ice to speak of, only a few scattered bergs, and the weather continued to be pretty nice, sunny and quite warm, which was very unusual for this time of year.Just at seven o’clock in the morning Dad woke me up and said that there were three bears on a small berg near us. Ralph and Jim, the same watch that discovered the first bear, had seen them. All hands turned out so we would not miss the fun.Carl was getting his rope ready while Art[157]got out his bow and arrows for the hunt. No guns were to be used. Dad wanted to have this entirely a stunt for the bow and the roping, and for motion pictures. Kellerman had his two big motion picture cameras on deck, and a good many of the crowd were using their still cameras. Also Bob Peary had a small movie camera but he was on watch in the engine room so I ran it for him the best I could!TheMorrisseywent right up close to the berg and we got a lot of pictures. There was a big mother bear and two cubs which had been born about February, they told me. They were pretty big and husky and weighed probably more than 150 pounds each. It was queer to see the bear away out here in the water, nearly twenty miles from land. But later Mr. Rasmussen told us often they travel hundreds of miles almost all the way in the water. Swimming seems to be about as easy for them as walking. Cap’n Bob[158]has found them swimming away down off the Labrador.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.As we got close the old bear walked right down to the water’s edge with the two cubs following. We headed away from the berg and swung around to leeward to let them calm down. That seemed to satisfy them. Perhaps they thought the ship was just a big dirty piece of ice.Anyway, they went back up on the ice and settled down. The two cubs lay down close to the mother, and Harry, looking through the glasses, said he could see that they were getting their breakfast.When we came close again for Art to get a bow and arrow shot the old bear got really worried and made for the water. They swam off in a row that looked like three butter balls, the old one first and the two little ones trailing. They are not really quite white, but seem to be sort of yellowish, almost butter color, especially when just their heads[159]show in the water. Their black noses show out more than anything and their eyes.We came within thirty feet of them in theMorrisseytwo or three times, taking pictures. The mother bear would turn around and growl at us, and sort of grunt to the children to hustle along and get away from this strange creature that was following them.We wanted to get them back on the berg, if possible, so we put a dory over with Carl in it and rowed by Ralph and Joe, to try to herd them toward the ice again. Several times after a lot of trouble they got them headed back near the ice but they wouldn’t go up on it again. It was a queer game of tag.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.In the meantime Jim on board was working on a rough cage for the cubs because Dad had decided to get them alive if it were possible to take them home to the Bronx Zoo at New York. At first they were going to let me shoot one as I did want to get a bear quite[160]by myself. But I agreed that it would be a lot better to get them alive if possible. It happens that in 1910 Cap’n Bob up right near here captured the huge polar bear that has been at the Zoo ever since, “Silver King.” He died last year.Art got out on the bowsprit with his bow and arrows and a file with which he gave the big two-inch steel blades of the arrows a last sharpening.Kellerman, at his camera, asked Art if he was ready. Art said he was all ready. So Cap’n Bob took the vessel right up close to them again. The first time Art couldn’t shoot because one of the cubs was swimming almost on top of the big bear. So we made another circle and came up on them again. It was a lot of trouble, because there was quite a rough swell and for the camera fixed up at the bow on the starboard side you had to get the vessel into position pretty exactly.[161]Art fired his big bow. By the way, it’s got about a ninety-five pound pull which means it’s all a very strong man can do to even get the string back and the bow bent, far less aim it and all that. I can’t even bend the bow half way. I’ve seen Art put the arrows through two-inch planks of soft wood.The first two arrows hit the big bear in the back. It was a hard mark, just the neck and a bit of body showing in the water, and Art standing in a mean place on the bowsprit, and the boat rolling a good deal.The bear turned around and roared and sort of cuffed at one of the cubs who was close. On the next circle Art used two more arrows and I guess one went into her pretty deep. She bled a lot and her head went under the water. Then she came up and kind of rubbed noses with the cubs and then her head dropped again. She was dead. And I guess it was the first time a polar bear ever has been killed with a bow and arrow, certainly since[162]the days when the Eskimos used primitive weapons.The cubs stayed around the body until Carl in the dory came up close. Then they swam off, barking like a whole kennel of dogs. We hoisted the big bear on board and covered her with a tarp. Then we started after the cubs, and it was about the most exciting thing I think I have ever seen, and an awful lot of fun.Carl sort of wedged himself up in the bow of the dory, which was bobbing around a lot in the swell, and the men rowed him towards the cubs as theMorrisseyworked in close where Kel could get the pictures.The very first shot Carl got his bear. He swung his rope about his head in the air and let it go. The noose fell as fine as could be right around the cub’s head. It was a great show. The folks back in Pendleton, Oregon, who sent us that rope for Carl would have been tickled to death. And right there[163]Dad said we would call one of the cubs “Cowboy.” The first one was to be named “Cap’n Bob.”The little bear didn’t know what had happened until they began pulling him in. Then he commenced growling and snarling and barking. When Carl got him alongside the dory he chewed at the rope and scratched and tore at the boat and at Carl and tried to climb aboard. He certainly was full of fight. One clean swipe from his claw would be enough to rip an arm off, I suppose. Carl wore heavy gloves and leather wristlets.When the bear tried to climb in Carl would bat him in the face with his hand or pry his paws off the gunwale. He bit at Carl and was real snooty. It was a great party. After a while, when he had towed the dory about a bit, Carl managed to get a rope sling down around his body behind his shoulders, and with this he was hoisted aboard with a tackle.Coming up and on deck he bit everything[164]he could get at and tried to tear the sails he reached, and generally raised Ned. We hoisted him up in the air and with a smaller rope sort of led and dragged him forward to the cage which was on the port side of the ship by the bow. We had to lift him over the jumbo and lower him on the other side into the entrance of his cage.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.On the way he knocked down the galley stove pipe. Then we put a line around one of his front paws and then put the line under the bottom of the cage and pulled down on it for all we were worth. We got his head down in that way and then we all had to push his hind quarters. After about half an hour we had him in the cage.Then Carl went out and roped the other cub, who had swam away about a quarter of a mile. This one we got over on top of the cage all right but then when Will was standing up leaning on the jumbo boom the bear jumped right up at him and Will just got away in time.[165]The bear landed just where he had been. It was very close. We got him in the cage the same as the other one.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.We gave them a duck and to our surprise they ate it all up in a minute. It is very unusual for an animal to eat so soon after he is in captivity. They must have been pretty hungry on that berg. We thought we would see how they liked the dog food we had on board, in cans. It’s called Ken-l-Rations and is pretty good stuff even for men. The Eskimos North liked it a lot. Well, our bears just loved it. They actually will bite chunks of it off a big spoon which Carl holds through the side of the cage. Dad has asked him to look after “Cap’n Bob” and “Cowboy.”And that really ended the expedition. Of course there was plenty more, and it was a month before we got home.After getting the bear cubs we went across Baffin Bay to Holsteinsborg and picked up the[166]Hobbs party. Then we started home. And the first day out we dropped our tail shaft and propeller, a third of the way across Davis Strait. That meant we had to go the rest of the distance to Sydney without any engine. We made those 1400 miles with sails alone, and we had a couple of grand gales and a real hard time getting through Belle Isle Straits and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, what with fogs and head winds. It took 15 days of sailing. But it was sort of a fine way to finish up a trip[167]on a vessel which was really meant for sails alone before we put in the engine.And this, now that I’m back from Greenland, I’m writing on theMorrisseyas we’re in sight of Cape Breton Island. And it all will be sent down by railroad from Sydney and perhaps the little book will be about ready by the time we’re back home—which is a pretty good place to be![169]
September second we were working down the eastern coast of Baffin Island, intending to cross over Baffin Bay toward Holsteinsborg to get the Hobbs party. There was no ice to speak of, only a few scattered bergs, and the weather continued to be pretty nice, sunny and quite warm, which was very unusual for this time of year.
Just at seven o’clock in the morning Dad woke me up and said that there were three bears on a small berg near us. Ralph and Jim, the same watch that discovered the first bear, had seen them. All hands turned out so we would not miss the fun.
Carl was getting his rope ready while Art[157]got out his bow and arrows for the hunt. No guns were to be used. Dad wanted to have this entirely a stunt for the bow and the roping, and for motion pictures. Kellerman had his two big motion picture cameras on deck, and a good many of the crowd were using their still cameras. Also Bob Peary had a small movie camera but he was on watch in the engine room so I ran it for him the best I could!
TheMorrisseywent right up close to the berg and we got a lot of pictures. There was a big mother bear and two cubs which had been born about February, they told me. They were pretty big and husky and weighed probably more than 150 pounds each. It was queer to see the bear away out here in the water, nearly twenty miles from land. But later Mr. Rasmussen told us often they travel hundreds of miles almost all the way in the water. Swimming seems to be about as easy for them as walking. Cap’n Bob[158]has found them swimming away down off the Labrador.
The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.
The Polar Bears on the Iceberg.
As we got close the old bear walked right down to the water’s edge with the two cubs following. We headed away from the berg and swung around to leeward to let them calm down. That seemed to satisfy them. Perhaps they thought the ship was just a big dirty piece of ice.
Anyway, they went back up on the ice and settled down. The two cubs lay down close to the mother, and Harry, looking through the glasses, said he could see that they were getting their breakfast.
When we came close again for Art to get a bow and arrow shot the old bear got really worried and made for the water. They swam off in a row that looked like three butter balls, the old one first and the two little ones trailing. They are not really quite white, but seem to be sort of yellowish, almost butter color, especially when just their heads[159]show in the water. Their black noses show out more than anything and their eyes.
We came within thirty feet of them in theMorrisseytwo or three times, taking pictures. The mother bear would turn around and growl at us, and sort of grunt to the children to hustle along and get away from this strange creature that was following them.
We wanted to get them back on the berg, if possible, so we put a dory over with Carl in it and rowed by Ralph and Joe, to try to herd them toward the ice again. Several times after a lot of trouble they got them headed back near the ice but they wouldn’t go up on it again. It was a queer game of tag.
The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.
The Polar Bear and Her Two Cubs Swim Away from the Berg.
In the meantime Jim on board was working on a rough cage for the cubs because Dad had decided to get them alive if it were possible to take them home to the Bronx Zoo at New York. At first they were going to let me shoot one as I did want to get a bear quite[160]by myself. But I agreed that it would be a lot better to get them alive if possible. It happens that in 1910 Cap’n Bob up right near here captured the huge polar bear that has been at the Zoo ever since, “Silver King.” He died last year.
Art got out on the bowsprit with his bow and arrows and a file with which he gave the big two-inch steel blades of the arrows a last sharpening.
Kellerman, at his camera, asked Art if he was ready. Art said he was all ready. So Cap’n Bob took the vessel right up close to them again. The first time Art couldn’t shoot because one of the cubs was swimming almost on top of the big bear. So we made another circle and came up on them again. It was a lot of trouble, because there was quite a rough swell and for the camera fixed up at the bow on the starboard side you had to get the vessel into position pretty exactly.[161]
Art fired his big bow. By the way, it’s got about a ninety-five pound pull which means it’s all a very strong man can do to even get the string back and the bow bent, far less aim it and all that. I can’t even bend the bow half way. I’ve seen Art put the arrows through two-inch planks of soft wood.
The first two arrows hit the big bear in the back. It was a hard mark, just the neck and a bit of body showing in the water, and Art standing in a mean place on the bowsprit, and the boat rolling a good deal.
The bear turned around and roared and sort of cuffed at one of the cubs who was close. On the next circle Art used two more arrows and I guess one went into her pretty deep. She bled a lot and her head went under the water. Then she came up and kind of rubbed noses with the cubs and then her head dropped again. She was dead. And I guess it was the first time a polar bear ever has been killed with a bow and arrow, certainly since[162]the days when the Eskimos used primitive weapons.
The cubs stayed around the body until Carl in the dory came up close. Then they swam off, barking like a whole kennel of dogs. We hoisted the big bear on board and covered her with a tarp. Then we started after the cubs, and it was about the most exciting thing I think I have ever seen, and an awful lot of fun.
Carl sort of wedged himself up in the bow of the dory, which was bobbing around a lot in the swell, and the men rowed him towards the cubs as theMorrisseyworked in close where Kel could get the pictures.
The very first shot Carl got his bear. He swung his rope about his head in the air and let it go. The noose fell as fine as could be right around the cub’s head. It was a great show. The folks back in Pendleton, Oregon, who sent us that rope for Carl would have been tickled to death. And right there[163]Dad said we would call one of the cubs “Cowboy.” The first one was to be named “Cap’n Bob.”
The little bear didn’t know what had happened until they began pulling him in. Then he commenced growling and snarling and barking. When Carl got him alongside the dory he chewed at the rope and scratched and tore at the boat and at Carl and tried to climb aboard. He certainly was full of fight. One clean swipe from his claw would be enough to rip an arm off, I suppose. Carl wore heavy gloves and leather wristlets.
When the bear tried to climb in Carl would bat him in the face with his hand or pry his paws off the gunwale. He bit at Carl and was real snooty. It was a great party. After a while, when he had towed the dory about a bit, Carl managed to get a rope sling down around his body behind his shoulders, and with this he was hoisted aboard with a tackle.
Coming up and on deck he bit everything[164]he could get at and tried to tear the sails he reached, and generally raised Ned. We hoisted him up in the air and with a smaller rope sort of led and dragged him forward to the cage which was on the port side of the ship by the bow. We had to lift him over the jumbo and lower him on the other side into the entrance of his cage.
Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.
Carl and One of the Polar Bear Cubs He Roped.
On the way he knocked down the galley stove pipe. Then we put a line around one of his front paws and then put the line under the bottom of the cage and pulled down on it for all we were worth. We got his head down in that way and then we all had to push his hind quarters. After about half an hour we had him in the cage.
Then Carl went out and roped the other cub, who had swam away about a quarter of a mile. This one we got over on top of the cage all right but then when Will was standing up leaning on the jumbo boom the bear jumped right up at him and Will just got away in time.[165]The bear landed just where he had been. It was very close. We got him in the cage the same as the other one.
Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.
Art Young and the Bear He Killed with Bow and Arrow.
We gave them a duck and to our surprise they ate it all up in a minute. It is very unusual for an animal to eat so soon after he is in captivity. They must have been pretty hungry on that berg. We thought we would see how they liked the dog food we had on board, in cans. It’s called Ken-l-Rations and is pretty good stuff even for men. The Eskimos North liked it a lot. Well, our bears just loved it. They actually will bite chunks of it off a big spoon which Carl holds through the side of the cage. Dad has asked him to look after “Cap’n Bob” and “Cowboy.”
And that really ended the expedition. Of course there was plenty more, and it was a month before we got home.
After getting the bear cubs we went across Baffin Bay to Holsteinsborg and picked up the[166]Hobbs party. Then we started home. And the first day out we dropped our tail shaft and propeller, a third of the way across Davis Strait. That meant we had to go the rest of the distance to Sydney without any engine. We made those 1400 miles with sails alone, and we had a couple of grand gales and a real hard time getting through Belle Isle Straits and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, what with fogs and head winds. It took 15 days of sailing. But it was sort of a fine way to finish up a trip[167]on a vessel which was really meant for sails alone before we put in the engine.
And this, now that I’m back from Greenland, I’m writing on theMorrisseyas we’re in sight of Cape Breton Island. And it all will be sent down by railroad from Sydney and perhaps the little book will be about ready by the time we’re back home—which is a pretty good place to be!
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