A FAMILY PARTY. 115 



must be somewhere near, as she had not been seen to make 

 off. We soon discovered her some distance farther down, 

 and apparently quite undisturbed by the shot that had de- 

 prived her of her mate, for she was busily engaged grubbing 

 after roots ; and working on either side of her were a pair 

 of cubs, which we had not before observed. As they were 

 on very bare ground, and as we had this time the nasal and 

 visual organs of three animals instead of one to take into 

 account, it was impossible to get nearer than a hundred 

 yards. At first I felt somewhat loath to disturb this inter- 

 esting family party, which I continued to watch for some 

 time, until its members began to show signs of uneasiness 

 in their minds by every now and then sitting up on their 

 haunches and suspiciously turning their noses towards us. 

 As I considered the youngsters quite big enough to take 

 care of themselves, I aimed deliberately at the old lady and 

 let drive ; she rolled a short distance down the hill, and, 

 after a few struggles and grunts, expired. 



The two cubs at first merely stood up on their hind legs 

 and gazed about them with much apparent astonishment. 

 But on seeing their mother lying motionless below, they at 

 once ran down to her, when their behaviour was such that 

 I felt quite sorry I had shot her. The anxiety they plainly 

 evinced, as they ran grunting and sniffing about their de- 

 funct parent, was quite touching to behold. Even on 

 observing us as we approached they seemed very unwilling 

 to leave her. When they at last made up their mind to do 

 so, they merely retired into an adjacent patch of wood, 

 where they continued their whining lamentations, occasion- 

 ally venturing out a few yards to stand upright and watch 

 us as we ruthlessly stripped their dam of her hairy coat, 

 and did not take their final departure until we gave chase, 

 thinking we might capture them. Although they were too 

 small to shoot, they were quite knowing enough not to 

 allow themselves to be caught. 



By the time we had finished skinning the bears, the short 



