i66 CASUALS IN THE CAUCASUS 



the oil for the lamps and furnish a couple of papaks for 

 the fur market in Tiflis. Poor little creature ! Living 

 out a butterfly existence in deep sound sleeps on 

 rotting rubbish heaps, eating, wrangling, playing, and 

 then — the end ! 



Even in far Daghestan — Atiri sacra fames ! 



The Yuzbashi told us how he had obtained the cub 

 with another from a rocky cave about the line of 

 perennial snow, where the old she-bear had denned up 

 for the winter. 



In the Caucasus the bears of the high altitudes 

 hibernate early, because of food difficulties and the 

 rigour of the climate. The males often come out during 

 the winter sleep and see how the world is wagging, but 

 once comfortably holed up the female lies perdu 

 until spring is well advanced. 



The place chosen by the cub's mother for her long 

 drowse was well known to the villagers who marked 

 it down, and before it was thoroughly snowed under 

 they excavated, and with considerable hardihood 

 induced the old bear to come forth to meet a cruel 

 rain of stones which bore her to the frozen earth. 



On his head the Yuzbashi wore a fine grey papak. 

 He took it off and handed it to us. " Permit me to 

 introduce you." 



Penetrating farther into the cave the hunters found 

 two cubs, quite naked, blind, and about as big as 

 hares. One died, but the other lived and thrived, 

 and fed cheerfully from a skin bottle filled with goat's 

 milk. 



AU this sounds as though the Daghestani is wont to 



