162 



BEARS. 



ferocious and forward in his attack. These are 

 found towards the Rocky Mountains, and none 

 but very expert hunters like to attack them. 

 A gentleman who was travelling to a distance 

 on the plains to the West of the Red River 

 Colony, told me of a narrow escape he once 

 had, with his servant boy, in meeting a grizzly 

 bear. They were riding slowly along, near 

 the close of the day, when they espied the 

 animal coming from the verge of a wood in 

 the direction towards them. They immediately 

 quickened the pace of their horses, but being 

 jaded with the day's journey, the bear was soon 

 seen to gain upon them. In this emergency, 

 he hit upon an expedient, which was probably 

 the means of saving their lives. He took the 

 boy, who was screaming with terror, behind 

 him, and abandoned the horse that he rode. 

 When the ferocious animal came up to it, the 

 gentleman, who stopped at some distance., 

 expected to see the bear rend it immediately 

 with his paw T s ; but to his surprise, after having 

 walked round and smelt at the horse, as it 

 stood motionless with fear, the bear returned 

 to the wood, and the horse was afterwards 

 recovered without injury. 



The morning of the 14th was very cold, 

 from the wind blowing off the ice in the Bay ; 



