384 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 



mortal wound, for lie rolled over and over, making 

 his teeth meet in the root of a tree with his last 

 dying effort. 



He proved to be the largest bear I ever met 

 with, standing over four feet high at the shoulder, 

 and, from the number of men it took to lift him, I 

 should think he could not have weighed less than 

 eight hundred pounds. He appeared to be of the 

 same species as the hill-bear of Circassia and the 

 Himalayas, being covered with long whitey-brown 

 hair. He had received eleven wounds, six of which 

 were in the head ; but I found that the round 

 leaden balls from my smooth-bore had flattened on 

 the skull without penetrating, whilst the conical pro- 

 jectile from my rifle splintered the bone. By the 

 time the skin was taken off, the carcass cut up, and 

 the flesh divided among the people, the sun had 

 sunk low in the west, and we had to beat a hasty 

 retreat in order to reach our bivouac (the cattle- 

 shed) before nightfall. Here we found a supply of 

 sheep, fowls, and forage had been brought in during 

 our absence ; so, after we had pitched our tents and 

 made the "inner man" comfortable, our battle 

 with the bear was fought over again as we reclined 

 round an immense fire, until some of us began to 

 nod, when we rolled ourselves up in our blankets 

 and turned in for the night, well satisfied with our 

 day's sport. 



I was awakened some time before dawn by 

 Kuchuk, who informed me that my baggage-pony 



