A A' ED BEAR 115 



time for me to load both the rifles, and to take up a 

 position behind a convenient rock. Resting the Express 

 on the rock, I watched the little beast — he was but a 

 small bear — shambling along. 



When he was about 70 or 80 yards off, and had 

 stopped to have a sniff, I thought it would be unwise to 

 let him come nearer lest he should wind us, so taking a 

 careful aim, I fired. As the smoke slowly lifted in the 

 heavy morning air, I heard Abdulla say, "Missed!" 

 Hardly able to believe my ears I jumped to one side of 

 the rock, and seeing the bear making off, I hurriedly 

 fired the second barrel, and then, as he continued his 

 retreat, takinof the Lee-Metford, had several shots at 

 his receding form, when he disappeared up the hillside 

 amongst the small trees, bushes, and broken rocks. 



Words cannot describe my feelings at that moment. 

 It was impossible to imagine an easier shot, and the men 

 were so astonished they could say nothing. That I 

 should have missed so often, and the first time at 70 

 yards from a rock as a rest, was nearly incredible, and I 

 felt quite dazed as we all walked down to the path the 

 bear had been on and examined the ground. Presently 

 Abdulla picked up a little piece of bloody brown hair, 

 and then found some drops of blood on the track. 

 Clearlv one bullet had o-one home somewhere, and we 

 started at once in pursuit, climbing over rocks, and 

 pushing our way through bushes. The blood - marks 

 were very few, and it was evident the bear was only 

 slightly hit. Most of the rocks and bushes that were 

 marked at all showed smears on the left-hand side as we 

 looked at them, and close to the ground, from which we 



