to
his friend and relative Mr. Stewart, driving before him Mr. Reid's sow,
which he had just rescued from the grip of an immense bear, that,
alarmed by his shouts, dropped his prey and made off in the direction
of a small cedar-swamp. We immediately proposed surrounding the place,
as there were three of us provided with double-barrelled guns. Mr. B---
-- took up his station behind a large tree, close to where a small
creek ran into the swamp. My brother-in-law John and myself went round
to the opposite side, which we entered a few yards apart. We had not
proceeded far, when an enormous brute popped up his head from behind
some fallen logs and brush, for we had disturbed him in the act of
devouring a pig. We both fired at the same instant, but apparently
without effect; for he scampered off, passing within a few feet of
where B----- was hid, who fired only one of his barrels, reserving his
second in case the bear should turn on him. We ran as fast as we could
to the river, for we knew he had gone in that direction. Indeed, Bruin
took to the water in fine style, swimming across gallantly. Before we
could get another shot at him he had gained the opposite bank. There we
gave him a second volley, which did not appear in the least to retard
his ascent, so we concluded that it was a regular miss all round.
B----- maintained, however, that he had hit him, and wanted us to cross
the river and follow the track. We only laughed at him for not firing
his second shot, and returned home very much crestfallen at the ill
success of our expedition.

Had we but complied with B-----'s wish, we should have found our hunt
had been more successful than we imagined, for eight or ten days
afterwards John Morison was going on the opposite side of the river to
Peterborough, when, upon crossing a small creek, he came quite
unexpectedly on the carcass of a large bear, not thirty yards from the
bank we had seen him climb. No doubt B-----'s shot was the fatal one,
as he was not more than five or six yards from him when he fired. The
stream, where the beast was found, is in the township of Smith, about a
mile and a half from Peterborough, on the river road, and is well-known
by the name of Bear Creek to this day.

There is very little danger of being attacked by Bruin, unless you
first molest him. An old she-bear, with cubs, is the most dangerous
customer to meddle with.

Major Elliott, of the Canadian Militia, a gentleman with whom I was
well a