232 MODERN PIG-STICKING 



pig or polo) about 2 spears lengths behind, Wright spurring 

 and driving with all his might over the most awful rocks. 



My shikari, Issery Singh, seeing the bear coming, grabbed 

 a spear from a syce, and shouting to the syces to follow 

 got to the edge of the gorge, backed up by Colonel's 

 syce alone (a Pahari), armed with a stick only. I knew 

 Issery Singh would meet her and I knew she must knock 

 him over the cliff if he did, and was very relieved when he 

 obeyed my shouted order to let her pass. I thought she 

 would die every minute, but she got into a cave and I had 

 to leave her. Wright sat on the cave that evening and a 

 fine leopard came out early which he shot. 



Next morning my shikaries reported that the bear had 

 not stopped in the cave but gone right through and left 

 no blood trail, and that I could not have speared as well as 

 I thought. But the day after the cub was found near the 

 cave very hungry and a smell attracted the men to a bush 

 a few yards from the cave where they found the poor old 

 bear dead, and there she no doubt was dead all the time we 

 were trying to get her out of the cave. 



This bear I can claim to have fairly killed with the spear 

 but I did not bag it, and have nothing but the claws as a 

 trophy. 



These are the only three times I have speared bears or 

 seen them speared, but when alone I have had several other 

 attempts without any luck, though I have found and hunted 

 them ; but always the country was either too bad to ride 

 at all or the bear got too much start or he refusd to leave 

 his cover. From what I have seen I am quite sure that 

 given a staunch horse and a bear on even very bad country 

 he is an easy quarry to hunt and kill with the spear ; but 

 evidently horses staunch to bear are so rare as to be prac- 

 tically unobtainable, and so this, as a sport, is hardly worth 

 bothering about. But I think great sport might be had 

 by three keen men on clever hill ponies armed with short 

 strong spears with a stop on the shaft about 2 feet from the 

 point, if the men dismounted and tackled the bear on foot 

 as soon as they had got him angry. The only trouble is 

 to find the bear when you want him and your best chance 



