24 A CUNNING OLD BRUIN. 



tree, having taken, as I thought, a quite careful enough sur- 

 vey of it to be able to discern a large black object like a bear, 

 when a low whistle from Kurbeer, who was following a few 

 paces behind, caused me to stop, and, on looking round, I saw 

 him pointing towards the middle of the tree. We moved 

 closer under it, and there, behind a thick part of the stem and 

 some closely interwoven branches, I discovered a patch of 

 black hair of the cunning beast, which evidently thought 

 itself well concealed. With a view to turning its flank, I 

 moved to the right and left of the tree, which was unassail- 

 able from its far side, where it overhung a deep drop. But 

 from nowhere could I get a better sight of the brute, which 

 kept quite still during all my manoeuvres. I therefore decided 

 on risking a shot at its only vulnerable point, hoping to make 

 its resting-place so hot as to induce it to drop from the tree, 

 and then get a chance at it en route. I fired, and down came 

 Bruin in a monstrous hurry. There was no occasion for a 

 second shot, as the black patch was the neck of what turned 

 out to be a large she-bear that had managed to hide her body 

 so cleverly. 



Never having tasted bear -meat, I suggested to my cook 

 that he might add a morsel of it to my frugal Christmas 

 dinner. But the horror and disgust depicted on his face at 

 the bare idea was such a caution that I refrained from press- 

 ing the matter, so it never appeared at table. Although these 

 bears are usually clean feeders, their food chiefly consisting 

 of grain, fruit, roots, and suchlike, they are decidedly carni- 

 vorous. They will sometimes destroy sheep and goats, and 

 will greedily devour carrion. Honey is perhaps their favourite 

 food, and to obtain this they are sometimes so bold as to rob 

 the village beehives, which are formed of short bits of tree- 

 trunks, hollowed out, closed at the ends, and slung under the 

 wooden eaves of the houses. Small blame to them for being 

 so fond of it, for the Kumaon honey is the purest and has 

 the whitest and thinnest comb I have ever seen. 



