Bears (Asiatic]. 239 



coming up, rushed at me with great ferocity, but 

 though I stopped him by driving my spear more 

 than a foot deep into his head, yet such was the 

 force of his charge that it broke to shivers. Thus 

 were my two pet spears, with one of which I had 

 previously slain eight bears, hors de combat. As 

 Scott could not get his horse to close, he gave me 

 his weapon, and though bruin had got into fearfully 

 holey cotton ground, I managed to wound him several 

 times. On the last occasion, the bear was so nearly 

 seizing my horse, that he had raised himself on his 

 hind ]egs to do it, but I just managed to get out of 

 his reach, leaving my spear in him. One of my 

 servants now came up, and gave me a hog spear, and 

 drove my large bear spear into bruin's hindquarters'! 

 The bear seized the shaft and broke it to pieces, but 

 while he was thus engaged I rolled him over dead 

 with a thrust through the heart. Thus ended my 

 first encounter with a bear by moonlight, and con- 

 sidering that we were in our night costume, and that 

 the brute w T as of great size and ferocity, it may be 

 pronounced a very satisfactory bit of ' shikar.' 



" 5th June. Out early this morning but saw 

 nothing. In the evening went to the old 'boorj/ 

 and made ourselves comfortable with carpets, lemon- 

 ade and books till just about dark, when Ramdeen, a 

 sepoy, whistled. I went down to him and he showed 

 me a bear a little way off ; as soon as he moved I 

 knocked him over with ' Poll ' and then both Scott 

 and I hit him again. He managed to get down 

 nearly to the foot of the hill, though again wounded 

 by me. I then went up and speared him, but 

 finding he had a good deal of strength remaining, I 



