192 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



sion of short grunts, my lantern was put out and sent flying by a 

 bear who charged it, brushing past me, probably with the idea that 

 the lantern was the assailant. I scuttled up the hole, and L., who, 

 in the excitement of the moment had forgotten my warning, fired 

 at the bear and rolled him back down into the crevice before I 

 got out. 



It was now evening, and getting very dark, so I lit a bunch ot 

 grass, and, on throwing it down the crevice, could see a bear lying 

 at the bottom. I threw a stone down, at which he did not growl, 

 but, probably owing to the flickering light of the burning grass, he 

 seemed to move, so we agreed to leave him till next morning. As 

 we were starting home, my shikari noticed that the dry leaves at 

 the bottom of the crevice were burning, which meant that by the 

 morning the bear would have his coat singed off, so I hardened 

 my heart, and, taking the rope, climbed down again, gave the bear 

 a kick when I got just above him, and as he did not move, went 

 up to him, felt for his head, slipped a noose over it, and the men 

 above hauled him out. We started early next day, taking L.'s 

 lantern, as mine was in the cave, and, on arrival at the place, to 

 my infinite disgust, found fresh droppings at the entrance. They 

 were probably only those of cubs, but one could not tell their size, 

 and it made the idea of going down in cold blood much less pleasant. 



I fired a shot down the cave, listened, but could hear no sound, 

 so went to my old entrance and tried to lower L.'s lantern by a 

 string, which was cut against the rocks, so that the lantern fell to 

 the bottom. 



We were now in a fix, for both our lanterns were down below, 

 and if we left them there we should have to spend our evenings in 

 darkness. 



L., whose figure was not suited to climbing about in narrow 

 caves, did not like the idea of my going down again — no more did 

 I — but I could not well leave the lanterns there simply because I 

 was afraid of fetching them ; so taking my double-barrelled rifle 

 with me, I started on my fifth journey. The length of the rifle 

 made the climbing very awkward ; however, I reached the bottom 

 without damaging it, found my own lantern none the worse except 

 for a few dents and scratches, followed the bottom of the cave until 

 I reached the crevice, above which the others were standing 

 anxiously awaiting my reappearance. They lowered a rope and 

 hauled up the lantern, while I went back, found L.'s lantern in two 

 pieces, handed it up, and then proceeded in my search for the bear. 



