Concluding By The Enthusiasm He Was
Exhibiting, That The Animal In Question Was At His
Heels, - Hidden From Us Probably By The Inequality Of The
Ground, - I Cocked My Rifle, And Prepared To Roll Him Over
The Moment He Should Appear In Sight.
But what was my
disappointment, when, on looking towards the schooner,
my eye caught sight of our three boats fastened in a row,
and towing behind them a white floating object, which my
glass only too surely resolved the next minute into the
dead bear!
On descending to the shore, I learned the whole story.
As Mr. Wyse was pacing the deck, his attention was suddenly
attracted by a white speck in the water, swimming across
from Prince Charles's Foreland, - the long island which
lies over against English Bay. When first observed, the
creature, whatever it might be, was about a mile and a
half off, - the width of the channel between the island
and the main being about five miles. Some said it was a
bird, others a whale, and the cook suggested a mermaid.
When the fact was ascertained that it was a BONA FIDE
bear, a gun was fired as a signal for us to return; but
it was evident that unless at once intercepted, Bruin
would get ashore. Mr. Wyse, therefore, very properly
determined to make sure of him. This was a matter of no
difficulty: the poor beast showed very little fight. His
first impulse was to swim away from the boat; and even
after he had been wounded, he only turned round once or
twice upon his pursuers.
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