Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/187

carrying them off, and devouring them in the sight of their companions. "On the sixth of September," observes this interesting writer, "some sailors landed to seek for a certain sort of stone; during the search, two of them were sleeping, one by the other, when a white bear approached them softly, and seized one of them by the back of his neck; the sailor not knowing what it was, cried out, 'Who has seized me there behind?' when the other raised his head, exclaimed, 'Halloo! it is a bear!' and immediately rose up, and ran away. The bear bit the unfortunate man in several parts of the head, and after having quite mangled him sucked his blood. The rest of the persons who were on shore, to the number of twenty, immediately ran with fire locks and pikes, and found the bear devouring the body. On seeing the men, he ran towards them with incredible fury, threw himself upon one of them, carried him away, and tore him to pieces which so terrified them that the rest all fled. Those who remained in the vessel seeing them thus flee, and return towards the shore, jumped into a boat, and rowed with all their force to receive them; when they had landed and beheld the lamentable spectacle, they encouraged the others to return with them to the combat, that all together they might attack the ferocious animal. Three of them advanced a little; the bear still continuing to devour his prey, without being at all disturbed at the sight of thirty men so near him. The two pilots having fired three times without hitting the animal, the