IN THE LAND OF TIIE BORA. 223 



keen a member of the fraternity of St. Hubert 

 would not prove to have taken so much trouble 

 for nothing. If H.I.H. the Archduke Leopold 

 Salvator could only shoot the bear, not a bear, 

 but the well-known giant of the Velez Eange, the 

 hero of heaven knows how many drives, who had 

 hitherto always managed to save his skin, either 

 by luck, cunning, or bad shooting ! It is true he 

 had not been seen this time, but that proves 

 nothing, as many as seven bears having been 

 known to be in a beat where only two or three 

 had been reported. Every precaution had been 

 taken to prevent the bears from being disturbed. 

 The peasants had even been forbidden to pasture 

 their cattle on the ground; although this might 

 be considered unnecessary, local records pointing 

 over and over again to successful drives where the 

 bears had been for days literally feeding amongst 

 the sheep, in one instance within a furlong of a 

 main road, a route of much traffic, and daily 

 patrolled by troops. The big bear of the Velez 

 is, however, said by the peasants to be a 

 " slaughterer," i.e. has turned cattle-eater, just 

 as tigers do in India when they get old and heavy. 

 On Sunday, the 21st, the bears were reported 

 to be still on the ground, and a telegram to that 

 effect was sent to the Archduke. The final 

 arrangements were now made. A rough sketch- 

 plan, showing the position, was distributed to 



