We continued our journey, and towards evening we descried a large bear
within a mile of us, and Roche started in chase. Having gained the other
side of the animal, he drove it directly towards me. Cocking a pistol, I
rode a short distance in front, to meet him, and while in the act of
taking deliberate aim at the bear, then not more than eight yards from
me, I was surprised to see him turn a somerset and commence kicking with
his hind legs. Unseen by me, Gabriel had crept up close on the opposite
side of my horse, and had noosed the animal with his lasso, just as I
was pulling the trigger of my pistol; Bruin soon disengaged himself from
the lasso, and made towards Roche, who brought him down with a single
shot below the ear.
Gabriel and I then went on ahead, to select a place for passing the
night, leaving our friend behind to cut up the meat; but we had not gone
half a mile, when our progress was suddenly checked by a yawning abyss,
or chasm, some two hundred yards across, and probably six hundred feet
in depth. The banks, at this place, were nearly perpendicular, and from
the sides projected sharp rocks, and, now and then, tall majestic
cedars. We travelled a mile or more along the banks, but perceiving it
was too late to find a passage across, we encamped in a little hollow
under a cluster of cedars.
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