ring the mid-watch, he
stole from the ship with one of his comrades, taking advantage of a
rising fog, and set off over the ice in pursuit of a bear. It was not
long before they were missed. The fog thickened, and Captain Lutwidge
and his officers became exceedingly alarmed for their safety. Between
three and four in the morning the weather cleared, and the two
adventurers were seen, at a considerable distance from the ship,
attacking a huge bear. The signal for them to return was immediately
made; Nelson's comrade called upon him to obey it, but in vain; his
musket had flashed in the pan; their ammunition was expended; and a
chasm in the ice, which divided him from the bear, probably preserved
his life. "Never mind," he cried; "do but let me get a blow at this
devil with the butt-end of my musket, and we shall have him." Captain
Lutwidge, however, seeing his danger, fired a gun, which had the desired
effect of frightening the beast; and the boy then returned, somewhat
afraid of the consequences of his trespass. The captain reprimanded
him sternly for conduct so unworthy of the office which he filled, and
desired to know what motive he could have for hunting a bear. "Sir,"
said he, pouting his lip, as he was wont to do when agitated, "I wished
to kill the bear, that I might carry the skin to my father."

A party were now sent to an island, about twelve miles off (named
Walden's Island in the charts, from the midshipman who was intrusted
with this service), to see where the open water lay. They came back with
information that the ice, though close all about them, was open to the
westward, round the point by which they came in. They said also, that
upon the island they had had a fresh east wind. This intelligence
considerably abated the hopes of the crew; for where they lay it had
been almost calm, and their main dependence had been upon the effect
of an easterly wind in clearing the bay. There was but one alternative:
either to wait the event of the weather upon the ships, or to betake
themselves to the boats. The likelihood that it might be necessary
to sacrifice the ships had been foreseen. The boats accordingly were
adapted, both in number and size, to transport, in case of emergency,
the whole crew; and there were Dutch whalers upon the coast, in which
they could all be conveyed to Europe. As for wintering where they were,
that dreadful experiment had been already tried too often. No time was
to be lost; the ships ha