J598 THE EASTERN HUNTERS. 



passed, but they were quite sufficient for the 

 purpose. 



Mackenzie looked at the stiff climb before him 

 with a rueful face, but girded his loins for the effort, 

 and the ascent was eventually accomplished. Once 

 on the top, he declared he could not continue with- 

 out some water, and though Norman was impatient 

 to be moving on, he was obliged to wait till his 

 thirsty friend had taken a long pull at the chogul. 



The man who had called them, stated, that very 

 soon after arriving at the place indicated by Koopur, 

 and which commanded the ravine, the bear had 

 passed at a slow pace, and that his companion was 

 still watching it. Accordingly when Mackenzie was 

 satisfied, they made the best of their way there, 

 and found that the beast had turned into a thickly 

 wooded nullah. 



They now separated ; Mackenzie making with 

 Roopur for the head of the nullah, the other two 

 for a point which it was thought likely the bear had 

 not yet passed. Cautiously approaching, about 

 twenty yards apart, the latter pair peered over a 

 ledge of rock from which a good view was obtained 

 of the wooded depths below. 



They could see nothing, but were still engaged in 

 scanning the tangled undergrowth, when a grunting 

 " ough, ough," startled them to a knowledge of the 



