t for home.
Many followed him. Francis, not seeing his brother go, also set out, and
many followed him, a greater number in fact than had followed Joseph. At
night the hunters from each party met, and they found the two parties
had traveled the same distance. On hearing this Francis sent a despatch
in the morning to his brother, but they found he had departed, and, the
country being a grassy plain, they could not exactly tell their course.

Meantime Joseph and his party had reached a point of woods, being the
first woods seen since leaving Pembina, at about nine o'clock in the
morning. Here they encamped at this early hour. He caught two wild
geese, and told his wife to cook them. His followers all dispersed to
hunt buffalo, as they were plenty about. He then put a new flint in his
gun, and stripped himself all but his breech-cloth, and went out to
explore the route he should pass on the next day.

He came into a ravine, and discovered three white bears' lairs fresh,
saw several carcasses of buffaloes lying round, more or less eaten and
decayed, and smelt quite a stench from them. One particularly was fresh
killed, and partly eaten by the bears. He passed on across a brook, and
after looking farther returned to the lairs. On returning to the brook
he found several sticks in the way of his passage for the carts on the
following day, which he commenced removing, having set his gun against a
tree. One stick being larger than the rest, some exertion was necessary
to displace it, and while in the act of doing this he heard a noise of
some animal, and saw at a distance what he took to be a buffalo, as
these animals were plenty, and running in all directions. He then took
up his gun and went on, when the sounds were repeated close behind him,
and looking over his shoulder he saw three white bears in full
pursuit of him.

He turned, cocked his gun, and took deliberate aim at the head of the
foremost, which proved to be the dam, and his gun missed fire. He
re-cocked his piece and again snapped. At this moment the bear was so
near that the muzzle nearly touched it. He knows not exactly how the
bear struck him, but at the next moment his gun flew in one direction
and he was cast about ten feet in another. He lit on his feet. The bear
then raised on her paws and took his head in her mouth, closing her
jaws, not with force, but just sufficient to make the tusks enter the
top of his shoulders. He at this moment, with the impulse of