ABSTRACT
ON Phipps* voyage many were killed, ff and the seamen ate of their flesh, though exceeding coarse". On Parry's expedition, the flesh of the bear proved a timely and valuable addition to their stock of provisions, and served materially to restore the strength of the party during their journey over the ice towards the North Pole. The commander in his narrative (p. 114) relates, that " a fat she-bear crossed over a lane of water to visit us, and approaching the boats within twenty yards was killed by Lieut. Ross. The scene which followed was laughable, even to us who participated in it. Before the animal had done biting the snow, one of the men was alongside of him with an open knife, and being asked what he was about to do, replied that he was going to cut out his heart and liver to put into the pot, which happened to be then boiling for our supper. In short, before the bear had been dead an hour, all hands of us were employed, to our great satisfaction, in discussing the merits, not only of the said heart an$ liver, but a pound per man of the flesh \ be-
sides which some or other of the men were constantly frying steaks during the whole day, over a large fire made of the blubber. The consequence of all this, and other similar indulgences, necessarily was, that some of them complained for several days after of the pains usually arising from indigestion; though they all, amusingly enough, attributed this effect to the quality, and not the quantity of meat they had eaten. The fact however is, that the flesh of the bear is just as wholesome, though not quite as palatable as any other ; and had they eaten moderately of it, as the officers did, they would have suffered no inconvenience whatever. However, notwithstanding these excesses at first, we were really thankful for this additional supply of meat; for we had observed for some time past that the men were evidently not so strong as before, and would be the better for more sustenance."
