REMINISCENCES OF JUNGLYPUR 213 



the two hundred yards leaf I let drive. Miss! Try 

 again. 



This time a -303 bullet hissed through his long coat and 

 starred in white powder from the rock behind, at which he 

 "whoofed" with annoyance, and accelerated his ungainly 

 pace. As he came trundling along over a little open space 

 another bullet twanged viciously off the ground just under 

 him. With a roar of rage he started to his hind legs and 

 made a furious demonstration in the direction of his tor- 

 mentor. Although I was at least 250 yards away, across 

 a deep chasm, it was wonderful to see how correctly he 

 judged my direction. I now stood up and, letting go 

 another despairing shot as he was rapidly getting away, 

 saw him, to my delight, throw up his legs, roll over and 

 over, and shoot swiftly out of sight into the ravine below. 



The tension being relieved, I cast myself down, panting 

 from my recent exertions ; then, regaining my breath, 

 descended to the watercourse. As I clambered down, by 

 the aid of tree- trunks and creepers, I could have sworn 

 that I heard somebody " yodel " upstream ; so imagining 

 that another sportsman had come out to Barhanpur that 

 day, I cheerily replied, to the best of my ability, " Tra-la 

 la-hi-tu ! " and hastened over the rocks. What was my 

 surprise to hear it a second time, and catch sight of the 

 melancholy upturned visage of my victim as that mournful 

 ululation welled from his throat and echoed down the glen ! 

 Then his head dropped, and he curled himself up for the 

 last time. 



1 have heard other bears chanting their own requiem, 

 but never another that warbled it so weirdly as this. 



One of the tiny bullets alone had struck him, fairly 

 amidships, and was found nicely mushroomed against the 

 skin on the far side a solid, soft-nosed Eley's. His feet 

 were badly torn and bleeding, owing to that rough and 

 hurried journey from the spot where I had first disturbed 

 him. 



