232 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



reappear upon the following night, but they will visit some well- 

 known spot in an opposite direction, and reappear forty-eight 

 hours later upon the forbidden ground. 



The elephants in that portion of Abyssinia which is traversed 

 by the various affluents of the Nile, being much harassed by the 

 sword-hunters of the Hamran Arabs, never drink in the same 

 locality upon two nights consecutively ; they drink in the Settite 

 river perhaps on Monday, march 30 miles in retreat, and on the 

 following night they will have wandered another 30 miles to the 

 river Gash, in a totally opposite direction. They will then possibly 

 return to the Settite, and after drinking, they will take a new 

 departure, and march to the river Royan or to the Bahr Salaam. 



A bear is a rapid traveller, and although sluggish in appearance 

 when confined, it is extremely active ; therefore outward signs of 

 digging, although evidence of nocturnal visits, cannot be accepted 

 as proofs of the bear's proximity. 



I believe that leopards may be frequently crouching among the 

 branches of trees, and remain unseen, while a person, unconscious 

 of their presence, may pass beneath ; but although the sloth bear 

 is most active in ascending a tree, it would be difficult for it to 

 remain unobserved, owing to its superior size and remarkable black 

 colour. A very large old tree with a considerable cavern-like hole 

 at the bottom should always be carefully examined, as bears are 

 particularly fond of these impromptu dwellings. I knew a man 

 who was thus surprised whilst cutting wood from a large tree, 

 unconscious of the fact that a bear was concealed within the hollow 

 trunk. The blows of the axe disturbed the occupant, which 

 immediately bolted from the hollow, and seized the wood-cutter by 

 the thigh. Fortunately the man had his axe, with which he at 

 once belaboured the bear upon the head until it relinquished its 

 hold. I saw the scars of the wound inflicted by the canine teeth ; 

 these were about six inches in length, extending from inside the 

 thigh to the knee-joint. The man declared that if his axe had 

 been heavier he could have killed the bear, but it happened to be 

 exceedingly light, and had very little effect. 



My shikari Kerim Bux, who was a very powerful man, had a 

 serious encounter with a bear, which seized his master, and im- 

 mediately turned upon him when he rushed unarmed to his assist- 

 ance ; the bear seized him by the leg, but in the wrestling match 

 which ensued, Kerim came off victor, although badly bitten, as he 

 threw the bear over a precipice, upon the edge of which the struggle 

 had taken place. This man was head constable in the police, and 

 bore a very high reputation. 



