290 HUNTING IN THE JUNGLE. 



half could be found in Bruin's stomach, and he had to 

 console himself with the skin, which was voted him by 

 popular consent. 



'' We had hardly reached the village when the missing 

 girl, her hair flying and garments torn, rushed in as if 

 followed by his Satanic Majesty himself. It seems the 

 bear had treated her most gallantly, giving her food in 

 his mountain fastness, and watching her with the 

 greatest apparent admiration and without offering her 

 the least violence. In the morning, when the bear 

 started on a foraging expedition, she escaped over the 

 barriers he had left at the entrance to his den ; and 

 while we had been interviewing him, she had made the 

 best of her way back to the village, running all the 

 way. 



" I had another bear adventure," continued my friend, 

 " which resulted in the capture, alive, of a very large 

 specimen. He had taken refuge in a hole beneath the 

 roots of a mighty tree, where it was impossible to get 

 at him unless we should dig him out like a rat ; so I 

 arranged nooses around the opening and placed my men 

 at some distance from the tree, each holding an end of 

 rope. When Bruin put out his head to see if the coast 

 were clear, we .drew our nooses tight around his neck 

 and held him helpless. We took him into the town and, 

 finally, on board the vessel, where he became thoroughly 

 at home and a prime favorite of all the men, especially 

 the cook, in whose quarters he was usually to be found. 



