A MAN MAULED BY A BEAR 413 



banks of the river Lemro facing the village of Lehnyindaung, 

 Akyab district. Three hunters, A, B, and C, of whom two were 

 armed with flint-lock guns and one with a dah only, left the 

 above-named village together to shoot on the opposite bank 

 of the river. While they were seated at the foot of a Jack 

 fruit tree a bear came upon the scene and ascended a tree 

 near at hand. They waited till he had got well into the 

 branches, and then one hunter, A, fired at him. The bear fell 

 to the ground after making one or two vain efforts to maintain 

 its equilibrium, but managed to hobble off into a dense patch 

 of jungle close by. C, who was armed only with a "dah she," 

 or fighting sword, and B, who had one of the guns, decided to 

 leave the bear alone and persuaded A to do the same, and 

 proposed to return to the village for dogs to hunt up the 

 wounded animal. As they were about to re-cross the river 

 with the intention of going to Lehnyindaung, A changed his 

 mind, and said he was going back to shoot the bear whether 

 his two comrades accompanied him or not. B agreed to wait 

 by the canoe till A and C returned, the latter having finally 

 agreed to go with A. On reaching the cover in which the 

 bear had taken refuge, A crawled into it on his hands and 

 knees, and suddenly came upon the bear face to face. He pulled 

 the trigger but his gun missed fire, and the bear charged, 

 seizing him first by the left arm and then by the right 

 thigh, and began to worry him. A, who was bowled over 

 into a sitting posture with his legs stretched out straight 

 before him, held on to the bear's ears like grim death, 

 shouting all the time for assistance. A was all this 

 time exerting his strength to the utmost to prevent the 

 animal biting him about the loins and stomach, as a nip in 

 those parts might prove fatal. C all this time had apparently 

 lost his head, as he was dancing about, chopping down at the 

 same time the plantain trees in his immediate neighbourhood, 

 and shouting at the top of his voice " He will be killed ; he will 

 be killed." Fortunately for A, B heard the uproar and cries 

 for assistance, and appeared upon the scene in the nick of 

 time, as poor A was nearly done. The bear's head being held 

 low down between A's thighs, B had to squat on the ground 

 before firing, which he did at a distance of about two paces, 



