98 SHIKAR 



waited, hoping for an opportunity of quitting our position 

 undiscovered : and so we remained for half an hour at 

 least, when Subhan, thinking we could withdraw back- 

 wards out of sight, tried if it would do, and beckoning us 

 we stealthily followed, and, having gained a screen, turned 

 and again tried to renew our acquaintance with Bruin, 

 who from the nature of the ground could not now be seen. 



We continued to descend the rocks towards his sup- 

 posed position, and had got close upon it without discover- 

 ing him. Mooktoo, from behind, made signals of seeing 

 him, but Subhan and I could not catch a glimpse of him, 

 until we gained the projecting rock under which he was 

 sleeping,, again thinking himself secure. The wind 

 lifting his long hair betrayed him. He was lying with 

 his head towards us, not four yards off, his head concealed 

 by the rock, so I struck him between the shoulders, when 

 he dropped backwards, and away he rolled over and over, 

 in a most surprising manner. I saw him at one time 

 high in mid air, as he bounded from a projecting rock, as 

 though he had been discharged from a mortar : and he 

 went rolling down the precipitous ravine for, I should 

 think, three quarters of a mile, much to the disgust of those 

 who had to descend and skin him, a very fine large skin, 

 with long yellowish fur. We saw other bears as we 

 descended in the evening, but out of reach, so we got 

 nothing more. It was a very hard day's work. We had 

 to cross a snowdrift over the river, in which was a large 

 fissure, which, however, only required nerve to cross 

 safely. 



13th June. Off to the place where I killed the doe 

 bara sing. After some time we saw a bear apparently in 

 retreat up hill. Thinking it useless pursuing, I turned 

 towards camp ; but Subhan pointed out the bear stop- 

 ping on the precise spot on which the bara sing had been 



