CHAPTER VI. 



BEARS (ASIATIC). 



IN Burma, we have two varieties of bear, the Ursus 

 Euryspilus, or sun bear, and the V. Malayanus. In 

 Assam the U. Tibietanus. In India the U. Labiatus 

 and in the Himalaya, Cashmere, &c., the 

 U. Isabellinus. The pitiful howls a wounded bear 

 makes are sufficient to shake the nerve of even an 

 experienced sportsman, to say nothing of the novice, 

 but if a man only keeps cool and waits patiently, 

 the attack of a bear, formidable brute as he is, is 

 not greatly to be dreaded, for before closing, the 

 beast always exposes the horseshoe on his breast, 

 and a shot there at once proves fatal. Why, I do 

 not know, but the objective point of attack is almost 

 invariably a man's face. To get at it the bear has to 

 stand up, and then there should be no difficulty in 

 accounting for him. 1 do not use shells usually, but 

 for bear shooting they are very effective. In Assam 

 more people are killed by bears than by tigers. I 

 have seen some poor fellows completely scalped, the 

 skin hanging down over their faces. In the East, the 

 bears are generally shot on foot, but in Assam, I 

 have come upon them and slain them, when on 



