234 UP AMONG THE PINES. 



hard climb, much of it being up a landslip, where the steep 

 stony ground was so unstable as to make the foothold bad, 

 we reached our destination late in the afternoon. On our 

 way we knocked at the door of the residence of a bear in 

 a hollow pine-trunk, our attention having been attracted to it 

 by the fresh marks of claws on the bark, where the occupant 

 had clambered up to the entrance-hole. Mr Bruin was, how- 

 ever, either " not at home," or too lazy to pay any attention 

 to our summons. 



The evening was spent in making ourselves as snug as 

 possible for the night. It was dreadfully cold up here, the 

 ground being partially covered with patches of snow. A lot 

 of dry pine-logs were collected in a heap, and as the shades of 

 night gathered in, a huge bonfire was cheerily crackling and 

 blazing away, dispelling the surrounding darkness, as the 

 ruddy glow was reflected on the nearer pine stems and 

 branches, or penetrated into the gloomy recesses of the forest. 

 A tin-can of soup was soon heating over the fire, and thick 

 cakes were placed under the hot ashes to bake, first having 

 been wrapped up in several layers of fresh birch-bark, 1 which 

 gives them a nice flavour and prevents their being burnt. In 

 this manner the evening meal was not long in being prepared, 

 and discussed with a relish seldom experienced except under 

 such circumstances. The fragrant weed was lit, and a lump 

 of snow put into the kettle to boil, and a glass of " hot with " 

 mixed, ere turning in on a soft couch formed of pine-branches 

 so arranged that only the tender sprouts remain uppermost. 



I may here remark that although a glass of hot grog is very 

 grateful and comforting to the Himalayan sportsman after he 

 has done his day's work, he will, I think, find cold tea far 

 better than spirits and water, both for quenching his thirst 

 and working upon during the day. 



1 Birch-bark is a staple commodity of commerce in Cashmere, where its thin 

 under-layers almost entirely take the place of paper with the shopkeepers for 

 wrapping up the purchases of their customers, besides for the many other 

 useful purposes to which it is applied. 



