AT LAST 151 



again, but the second barrel of the old gun sent him 

 to that bourne from which he never will return. My 

 feelings cannot be described, so I won't attempt to. 

 Suffice it to say that it was sunset when he died, and 

 it had been mid-day when we first saw him ; though I 

 was bootless, hungry, and had 7 or 8 miles to walk home, 

 I had accomplished that which made the journey light 

 and the way easy. 



The tusk of this elephant was 8 feet long and 

 weighed 90 Ibs., 17 inches in circumference at the 

 thickest part; the broken tusk weighed 53 Ibs. 



NEILGHERRY HILLS, 

 26 th August. 



(Since the last sheet we have arrived here and are 

 revelling in the clear cool air.) 



If I go on disgressing in this manner, we shall never 

 get to the bears, so here we go at once : 



Just as I was creeping cautiously through a thorny 

 clump, I spied a great black bear sitting down scratch- 

 ing himself with evident pleasure and satisfaction. 

 Instantly I squatted behind a low bush to wait for a 

 good chance, as I did I caught sight of two more bears 

 quite close to me. I think you could have put the 

 four of us into the dining-room at C. B., so close were 

 we together. Well, three bears when a man has only 

 two barrels is rather heavy odds, but I was determined 

 to have one of their coats anyway. The bears fed 

 away in the most quiet and gentlemanly manner con- 

 ceivable, and I sat coiled up in a bush watching them 

 like a tiger. One I saw was an immense bear I have 

 never seen but one as large and upon her (for it was a 

 lady) I fixed my eye. She was the nearest to me and 

 was busily engaged in searching for " cunning grub " 

 that gave her much trouble and uneasiness of mind. 



