Glad to be rid of so unpleasant a visitor, I came up, and cutting off the meat I required, again exerted my cookery, was again satisfied and went to sleep.  I never felt so happy as I then did in my insane condition.  All I thought of, all I wished, I could command—­my happiness was concentrated in eating my fellow-creatures, cooked in a proper manner, instead of the usual method of bolting them down to satisfy the cravings of imperious hunger.  I woke the next morning as usual, and when I crawled on deck, was again saluted with the angry growl of the bear, who was busy making a repast upon another body—­when he had finished he plunged into the sea as before.

I now thought it high time to put an end to these depredations on my larder, which in a few days would have left me destitute.  My invention was called into action, and I hit upon a plan, which I thought would succeed.  I dragged all the bodies to the after part of the quarter-deck, and blocked it up before the cabin-hatch with swabs and small sails, so as to form a sort of dam about eight inches high.  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.