2IO A SHOOTING TRIP TO KAMCHATKA 



conclusion that the younger sheep shed their coats 

 earlier than their elders. It is always dangerous to 

 generalise upon insufficient evidence, but I had been 

 struck by the same peculiarity in other countries, and 

 similar facts, as well as exceptions, prove the rule. It 

 took us some time to skin the animal and gather all 

 the bones for the skeleton, and evening was setting in 

 when we started back towards camp. 



As we alighted on the summit of the ridge an 

 immense corrie lay beyond, and there on the vast 

 snowfields at its bottom awaited us a sight which 

 few sportsmen can boast of having ever witnessed. 

 We counted eioht laroe bears wanderino- about on 

 the snow, all in full view at once, and within a radius 

 of certainly less than a mile ! They appeared to us 

 like hu<>"e blackbeetles crawlin^r alono- a whitewashed 

 floor. It was an uncommon gathering, as I watched 

 them with my glass, clumsily advancing in different 

 directions with their snouts to the ground. Six of 

 them came within the field of my Zeiss, and one of 

 them specially attracted my attention by his enormous 

 size. The General, who seemed to be a connoisseur 

 in the matter, said he must have measured at least 

 twenty -five hands, or /c/ick'crfs, and consequently 

 weighed, according to the local estimate, twenty-five 

 />oods {H50 lbs.). It was a unique sight. The beasts 



