174 SIR VICTOR BROOKE CHAP. 



gether, and had villainous weather very nearly all the 

 time. I got five dogs, rough-bred brutes, but two or 

 three of them very good, and, as you will see, they are 

 the right thing for the bouquetin. The first thing we 

 did was to beat the Sanctuary. Post going to your 

 post and I to mine, where Francis was when the 

 boodah 1 passed him. The first thing I saw when I 

 got to my place were the fresh tracks of a big bear in 

 the little cavern where I hid myself. When the beat 

 was over I got to Post. I found he had seen two 

 bears, one a tremendous beast, who was pottering about 

 in front of him, about 300 yards off, for twenty minutes. 

 The old beggar at last went into a wood, and he never 

 saw him again. The next few days it did nothing but 

 snow. We made one or two beats, but could do 

 nothing, and found no tracks in the Sanctuary, which 

 astonished me immensely. One evening it was snowing 

 hard, and I determined to go and stalk the Sanctuary 

 alone. Up near the top cornice I came on the fresh 

 tracks of the old boodah, but the beggar went up a 

 desperately steep place, where I could not follow him, 

 with the snow, so I had to go home. Next morning 

 we posted ourselves in the old places, and made the 

 men beat the Sanctuary. The dogs found at once, 

 and ran the bouquetin several times nearly down to 

 the gorge. I got up to my post, but they would not 

 come out. One of the dogs had gone off after another 

 bouquetin higher up in the wood, from the very spot 

 where I had left the boodah's tracks, and I was sure 

 it was him. When we got the men and dogs out, Post 

 and I went and posted ourselves in the middle of the 

 wood, and made the men take it west. I felt sure we 

 were too late, and so we were ; when the beat was over, 

 we found the tracks of the old boodah going hard 



1 Hindustani word to express " very old." 



