BEATING FOR BEAR IN CHOTA NAGPUR 45 



one and the same time. Also there is always an element of 

 danger in the encounters, made stronger by the fact that 

 bear are extraordinarily hard to kill. This is especially the 

 case when you are awaiting the return of the animal from 

 the fields and it arrives before dayhght. Owing to its black 

 colour it is difficult to make out the form of the approach- 

 ing beast, much less distinguish the dull white horseshoe 

 mark on the chest or the place just behind the shoulder, 

 the two best spots for a fatal shot. Unless brained, shot 

 through the heart or spine, each shot put elsewhere appears 

 to act as an additional incentive to a vigorous attack. 

 In charging a bear usually gets up on to his hind legs, 

 and the bullet in this case should be placed just below 

 the middle of the white horseshoe. If he is on all fours 

 fire at his white muzzle, which is the one conspicuous 

 object which you will be able to pick up on the foresight 

 of the rifle. 



Many a rough and tumble we had with bruin in the 

 palmy days in Chota Nagpur. There was never any diffi- 

 culty in getting together two or three rifles, and when life 

 became irksome or monotonous in the Station in the hot 

 weather or rains a day's beat was arranged as a variation. 

 Ludicrous incidents occurred with a frequency which, if 

 related, would render oneself liable to the charge of romancing 

 by those who have not enjoyed the sport. The following 

 episode is a good illustration. 



The rains had been falling for days, weeks, with that 

 boring persistency and monotony too well known to the 

 Anglo-Indian banished for the time being to one of the 

 small Stations of a province where half a dozen represents 

 the total complement of men of his race. 



A welcome break arrived and the sun shone, and inci- 

 dentally the earth began to steam as only India knows 

 how during a break in the rains. 



A day after bear was voted and out we went, four of 

 us, including a youngster in the police, possessed of the 

 loudest and heartiest laugh I had ever heard then, 

 or have encountered since for that matter. A. B.C. we 

 will call him (these formed part of his extraordinary 

 collection of initials) ; F., R. and myself formed the rest 

 of the party. 



We drove out some ten or twelve miles to a small rounded 

 rocky eminence, separated by a couple of miles or less from 



