365 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



THE INDIAN BLACK BEAR (U RSI'S LABJATUs). 



DESCRIPTION OP — HABITS AND DISPOSITION — SHE-BEARS CARRYING* THEIR CUBS — 

 WuUNDED BEARS ATTACKING EACH OTHER— FOOD — BEARS DRINKING HENDA — EATING 

 FLESH — DANGER OF MEETING BEARS — MODES OF HUNTING J5EARS — A HARD BUT 

 SUCCESSFUL DAY — BAG FOUR BEARS — JUNGLE-SURGERY — BEARS AT SAKRAPATAM — 

 THE IYENKERRY LAKE -FELONIOUS BEARS — EXECUTE TWO OUT OF FIVE — MAKE A 

 FURTHER EXAMPLE OF TWO MORE — BOXER AND BOSIE — SHOOT A BEAR BEFORE A 

 LARGE ASSEMBLY— NATIVE BELIEF REGARDING BEARS CARRYING OFF WOMEN — 

 KILLING BEARS WITH DOGS AND A KNIFE. 



THIS is the common bear of India and Ceylon : it is sometimes called 

 the sloth Lear. It is found from the extreme south of India to the 

 Ganges. Two other species occur in the Himalayas, but Ursus labiatus is 

 the only one inhabiting the plains. It does not hibernate, and though 

 covered with so thick a coat seems quite at home in the hottest localities. 

 The hair is black, coarse, and shaggy ; the muzzle and tip of feet whitey- 

 brown ; and a crescent-shaped mark on the breast — in sportsman's parlance 

 the horse-shoe — is white or yellowish in different individuals. 



The largest bear I ever killed weighed exactly 20 st, stood three feet 

 high at the shoulder, and approached six feet in length. 



Bears have formidable claws, four inches in length, with which they 

 dig for insects. The sole of the foot is very like that of a man's in shape, 

 but shorter and broader ; and the print left by it is sufficiently like a man's 

 to admit of a mistake being made regarding it by any one unaccustomed 

 to tracking. 



The male and female bear frecpaently live together, except when the 

 female has cubs. Three bears are not unfrequently found in company, in 

 which case it is usually a mother and two large cubs. The female has 

 two, sometimes, I believe, three, young at a birth, and often carries them on 



