50 i'Ht: HISTORY OF 



little farther, at last tliey made a lucky shot, that our straggler had the good 

 fortune to hear, and he returning the salute, they soon found each other "with 

 no small satisfaction. But though they lighted on the man, they could by no 

 means light on his horse, and therefore he was obliged to be a foot soldier 

 all the rest of the journey. Our Indian sliot a bear so prodigiously fat, that 

 there was no way to kill him but by firing in at his ear. The fore part of the 

 skull of that animal being guarded by a double bone, is hardly i>enetrable, 

 and when it is very fat, a bullet aimed at liis body is apt to lose its force, be- 

 fore it reaches the vitals. This animal is of the dog kind, and our Indians, as 

 well as woodsmen, are as fond of its flesh as the Chinese can be of that of 

 the common hound. 



22d. Early in the morning we sent back two men to make further search 

 for the horse that was strayed away. We were unwilling the poor man 

 should sustain such a damage as would eat out a large part of his pay, or 

 that the public should be at the expense of reimbursing him for it. These 

 foresters hunted all over the neighbouring woods, and took as much pains as 

 if the horse had been their own property, but all their diligence was to no 

 purpose. The suj'veyors, in the mean time, being fearful of leaving these 

 men too far behind, advanced the line no farther than one mile and two hun- 

 dred and thirty poles. As we rode along we found no less than three bears 

 and a fat doe, that our Indian, who went out before us, had thrown in our 

 course, and we were very glad to pick them up. About a mile from the 

 camp we crossed Miry creek, so called because several of the horses were 

 mired in its branches. About two hundred and thirty poles beyond that, the 

 line intersected another river, that seemed to be a branch of the Irvin, to 

 which we gave the name of the Mayo, in complement to the other of our 

 surveyors. It was about fifty yards wide where we forded it, being just 

 below a ledge of rocks, which i-eached across the river, and made a natural 

 cascade. Our horses could hardly keep their feet over these slippery rocks, 

 which gave some of their riders no small palpitation. This river forks about 

 a quarter of a mile below the ford, and has some scattering canes growing 

 near the mouth of it. We pitched our tent on the western banks of the 

 Mayo, for the pleasure of being lulled to sleep by the cascade. Here our 

 hunters had leisure to go out and try their fortunes, and returned loaded 

 with spoil. They brought in no less than six bears, exceedingly fat, so that 

 the frying pan had no rest all night. We had now the opportunity of trying 

 the speed of this lumpish animal by a fair course it had with the nimblest 

 of our surveyors. A cub of a year old will run very fast, because, being 

 upon his growth, he is never encumbered with too much fat ; but the old 

 ones are more sluggish and unwieldy, especially when mast is plenty. Then 

 their nimblest gait is only a heavy gallop, and their motion is still slower 

 down hill, where they are obliged to sidle along very awkwardly, to keep 

 their lights from rising up into their throat. These beasts always endeavour to 

 avoid a man, except they are wounded, or happen to be engaged in tlie pro- 

 tection of their cubs. By the force of these instincts and that of self preserv- 

 ation, they will now and then throw off all reverence for their Maker's 

 image. For that reason, excess of hunger will provoke them to the same 

 desperate attack, for the support of their being. A memorable instance of 

 the last case is said to have happened not long ago in New England, where a 

 bear assaulted a man just by his own door, and rearing himself upon his 

 haunches, offered to take him lovingly into his hug. But the man's wife ob- 

 serving the danger her husband was in, had the courage to run behind the 

 bear, and thrust her two thumbs into his eyes. This made Bruin quit the 

 man, and turn short upon the woman to take his revenge, but she had the 

 presence of mind to spring back with more than female agility, and so both 

 t!ieir lives were preserved. 



