march homewards.

I had great difficulty in keeping the dog off. He would rush in, every
minute, in spite of all I could do, and seize poor Bruin by the side
and shake him most unmercifully. I had enough to do with the help of a
stout stick to keep him and the bear in order. The latter was equally
violent striking with his fore-paws at the men who were luckily for
them just out of his reach, and particularly so for Dennis, who marched
in front, whose unmentionables not being in the best possible repair,
appeared to excite Master Bruin's particular attention.

I very much wished to preserve this creature alive, that I might try
and tame him. In this, however, I was destined to be disappointed; for
what with the beating I was obliged to give him to keep him quiet, and
the savage attack of the dog, he died just as we came within sight of
the clearing. When we skinned him, we found his side much lacerated
where the dog had bitten him. From the exaggerated description Dennis
had given me of his size, I fully expected to find him as big as a
bullock. He, however, only weighed a hundred and fifty-seven pounds,
which, for a bear of two years old, which appeared to be his age, is, I
believe, the average weight.

The summer of 1825 was warm, even for Canada, where this season is
always hot. The thermometer often ranged above 90 degrees in the shade.
Such weather would be quite unbearable, were it not for a fine breeze
which almost invariably springs up from the westward between ten and
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and continues till sunset.

The nights are cooler in proportion to the heat of the day, than in
England.