Game Animals of India, etc. 



quently, either by falling to the ground in the endeavour 

 to escape, or from a direct encounter with an enraged 

 bear, these people frequently received frightful injuries, 

 from which, however, in most instances they completely 

 recovered. 



Black bear stalking in the forests bordering the 

 valley of Kashmir requires more care than is expended 

 in approaching the brown bear on the open hills above, 

 the senses of sight and hearing being more developed 

 in the black than in the brown species. Many of 

 these forests are very dense, so that it requires the eye 

 of a practised shikari to see the dark forms of the bears 

 while searching for chestnuts on the ground without 

 the party being detected by the vigilant animals. 

 Another method of shooting is by beating the small 

 patches of forest found in many Kashmir nalas^ when 

 the bears march out deliberately in single file, with 

 their curiously sedate steps and solemn expression of 

 countenance, offering in most cases easy shots to the 

 sportsman, who may, however, be deterred from 

 taking aim by a tendency to laughter. To behold a 

 family party of five black bears walking solemnly out 

 of covert, one after another, is indeed a comic sight ; 

 and still more ludicrous is it to see one of these 

 animals descending — stern -forwards — a fruit-tree in 

 which it has been disturbed, and looking downwards 

 every now and then over one shoulder to see who is 

 below. Shooting them in the fruit-trees is perhaps 

 taking a rather unfair advantage of the bears, but is 

 still often practised. Black bear shooting, although 

 rather more exciting than stalking the brown species, 

 is, however, by no means a very high class of sport, 

 especially as the skins are never of any particular 

 value, and in autumn, owing to the masses of yellow 

 fat that are accumulated beneath them, are absolutely 

 useless. In regard to the proper place to hit these 

 animals. General Macintyre observes that " a bear, 

 after being skinned and decapitated, looks very like a 



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