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his eyes but we looked at each other. He didn’t look like
he was trying to eat us; he just looked curious. With my
heart pounding I pointed the camera and held the button
down.
    The bear took a couple of sniffs, then went to the bow and
pushed it down, then went to the stern and pushed it down.
I shut the hatch, let a little water into the tanks, sank a few
feet and watched him through the periscope. I was hoping
he would move to the ice and then I could take his picture
again. Now that I had finally taken the camera out, I wanted
to photograph everything.
    He finally swam to the ice and climbed up. He was so big!
Through the periscope I saw the people in the motorboat
watching him. I opened the hatch again, stuck my head out
and took the bear’s picture. He was sitting on the ice like a
big white teddy bear. I looked at the people in the boat. The
man in the t-shirt was holding a rifle. He raised it to his
shoulder and aimed at the bear.
    â€œDon’t!” I yelled. “Don’t!”
    The bear turned and looked at the man in the boat. Iyelled at the top of my lungs. “Don’t shoot him!”
    The man looked at me and lowered his rifle. Now, I
couldn’t leave. I had to go over and talk to them. In the first
place, they had saved my life. In the second, I was afraid that
if I left, he would shoot the bear.
    I surfaced and motored over. The little kids were still waving when our vessels touched. The older people weren’t but
they were smiling politely. I leaned out of the hatch. “Thank
you for warning me about the bear.”
    â€œIt almost killed you,” said the man with the rifle.
    â€œI know. Thank you for saving me.”
    â€œYou’re welcome. How come you have a submarine?”
    â€œI’m an explorer.”
    â€œYou’re an explorer?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat are you exploring?”
    â€œWell, right now I am on my way to the Pacific.”
    â€œThe Pacific?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThen what are you doing here?”
    â€œThis is one of the ways you can get there from Newfoundland.”
    â€œIt is?”
    â€œYes.”
    The young man bent down and spoke to the older people
in the boat. Then he raised his head. “Come and have supper with us.”
    I followed them to Igloolik, about ten miles away. It surprised me they would travel so far through icy water in an
open boat. The man with the rifle asked if he could ride
inside the sub, but I explained that I had promised not to
take passengers except in the case of emergency. It was too
dangerous. He nodded his head then asked if he could ride
on the hull. I said, no way, it was far too dangerous. Then I
wondered, was he crazy?
    Igloolik didn’t look like much from the water. It was just
a collection of flat, plain houses that appeared as if they had
floated in on the tide and stayed. The land was treeless and
barren. The only things that stood up were the houses. I saw
about a dozen fishing boats lying on their sides on the pebbled beach. I wondered what they fished for here.
    I dropped anchor in twenty feet, inflated the dinghy and
paddled over with Hollie. The young man was standing at
the water’s edge to greet us. We shook hands and he told me
his name was Stephen. Then he introduced me to everyone
else, telling me their names and making sure I said hello to
everyone, even the kids. But I couldn’t remember a single
name, except Stephen’s.
    They made a fuss over Hollie but told me to keep him
close because of the local dogs. I picked him up right away.
    The people of Igloolik were the friendliest people I had
ever met. I knew right away I could trust them and didn’t
worry about leaving the sub alone. Stephen promised me no
one would climb inside it. He took me on a tour of theirhouses to meet their elders. The elders were old men and
women with extremely wrinkled faces, sparkling eyes and
big smiles. They were so friendly I almost wondered if