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rocks with so much agility and ease, that no other 

 animal can follow it ; and by this means it es- 

 capes the wolves. Its flesh is esteemed equal to 

 that of the deer. 



On the 3d of August, We moved up into the 

 mountains and met with a camp of Gens-de-panse, 

 or the Paunched Indians. We encamped with 

 them for the night, and on the 4th, about noon, 

 we had like to have been defeated, by a monstrous 

 white bear. Four or five of the men were ahead, 

 and turning the point of a steep hill, they met a 

 white bear, and fired upon him, but only wounded 

 him. He immediately turned upon them, and 

 they retreated. At the point of the hill they met 

 the rest of the party, the bear pursuing close to 

 their heels, which threw the whole party into con- 

 fusion. Not being room for us to escape, the 

 bear was in a moment in the midst of us. As one 

 man turned and attempted to run, the bear seized 

 his bufFaloe robe, and had not the fastening given 

 way, would have drawn him under his paws. 

 While he was spending his rage on the robe, one 

 of the men shot him dead on the spot. As soon 

 as he fell, the whole party made the air ring with 

 their shouts. This bear was much larger than 

 the black bear. The meat only would have 

 weighed more than four hundred pounds. The 

 mountains here are steep, and some of their points 

 and sides are covered with a small growth, mostly 

 of the spruce kind. The stream we were ascend- 

 ing is winding, interrupted, and full of rapids, 



