

BEARS. 



necessary is to aim just below the horseshoe and fire. 

 When he charges right home on all fours, fire at his snout ; 

 it is white, and a good mark. The bullet then will either 

 brain him or break his spine. In any case, you must hit 

 him somewhere forward. You cannot miss at such a short 

 range, and the impact of the bullet will check or turn him, 

 giving a favourable opportunity for a decisive shot with 

 the left barrel. It is not easy to place your bullet in the 

 right spot, which is difficult to discern on his shaggy black 

 coat, and you are very likely to " lose " your foresight, 

 unless it is painted white. One dark morning, I came on 

 two bears, close to their cave ; the nearer one stood upon his 

 hind legs, and began beating the air with his paws to 

 frighten me. He was only fifteen yards off, but the lower 

 part of his body was shrouded in darkness, and I could 

 only just see his arms and head going through this panto- 

 mime against the faint light in the sky called the " crow's 

 dawn." I fired and hit him, with the usual result, for, 

 rushing on his comrade with shrieks of fury, he began to wool 

 him, when, running forwards, I browned them with two more 

 shots ; they vanished into the darkness, and were never seen 

 again ; but the fighting and roaring continued at intervals 

 till daylight, when we found they had entered an adjacent 

 huge pile of rocks and baffled us. The most sporting way of 

 shooting bears, is to bolt them from their stronghold with 

 rockets and " kaweets," the fruit of the wood-apple, which is 

 filled with powder and fitted with a fuse, the soft interior 

 having been previously removed, leaving the hard outer 

 shell, which thus becomes a hand grenade, and with lighted 

 fuse is thrown into caves or fissures in the rock, where it 

 bursts with a loud report. Panthers, and even tigers, some- 

 times appear on these occasions, and then the sport becomes 

 more highly flavoured. This method is in every way 



