I then went below and
brought up forty or fifty buckets of train oil, which I poured upon the
deck abaft, so that it was covered with oil to the height of several
inches. On the ensuing morning the bear came as I expected, and
commenced his repast; I had stationed myself aloft, in the mizen-top,
with several buckets of oil, which I poured upon him. His fur was
otherwise well saturated with what he had collected when he lay down on
the deck to devour one of the bodies more at his ease. When I had poured
all my buckets of oil over him but one, I threw the empty buckets down
upon him. This enraged him, and he mounted the rigging to be revenged. I
waited until he had arrived at the futtock shrouds, when I poured my
last bucket upon him, which quite blinded him, and then gained the deck
by sliding down the back stays on the opposite side.
A bear can climb fast, but is very slow in his descent--the consequence
was that I had plenty of time for my arrangements. I ran below, and
lighting a torch of oakum, which I had prepared in readiness, placed it
to his hinder quarters as he descended. The effect was exactly what I
had anticipated; his thick fur, covered in every part with oil, was
immediately in a blaze, and burnt with such rapidity, that before he
could recover his feet on deck, he was like an immense ball of fire. I
retreated to the companion-hatch to watch his motions. His first act was
to return to the quarter-deck and roll himself in the oil, with an idea
of quenching the flames, but this added fuel to them, and the animal
roaring in his agony at last jumped into the sea and disappeared.
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