Nelson and the bear, c.1806 (oil on oak panel)

Creator: Richard Westall In 1773 Horatio Nelson served as a midshipman in the 'Carcass', Captain Skeffington Lutwidge, which sailed under Captain Constantine Phipps in the 'Racehorse' on a Polar expedition to try to find a north-east passage to the Pacific. These two strongly built bomb-vessels were both obliged to return when they found their way impenetrably barred by ice to the north of Spitsbergen. During the attempt, Nelson set off with a friend to stalk a polar bear. His musket misfired and he attacked the bear with the butt-end until saved from harm by a rift in the ice, which separated him from the animal. A gun was also fired from the ship to scare the bear off and Nelson justified his action to a furious Captain Lutwidge by stating that he wished to kill the bear to take its skin home to his father.