30 BEARS. 



hour. He was a vindictive brute, and had killed five 

 of his mahouts. 



A week later, at Bajumpett, a village shikari, rejoicing 

 in the name of Baban Sahib, was introduced to us. A 

 ferocious-looking desperado beard dyed red with henna, 

 blue turban and tunic, and a leather shikar belt covered 

 with muntars (charms) and daggers. He had an evil 

 reputation as a sorcerer (jadfi wallah), and the shikaries 

 were awed by him. 



Late in the afternoon he sent coolies in to camp, to 

 say he had a bear marked down for us. It was my turn 

 to shoot ; so I went out on the elephant to the trysting 

 place, where Baban was waiting, armed with a percussion 

 musket, and full of swagger. As we approached the spot 

 where the bear was lying, he halted the other shikaries, 

 and led me for a short distance up a small hill, on which 

 a few trees were studded at intervals. He now exhibited 

 .signs of reluctance to advance, and his swagger vanished. 

 After a few minutes we arrived at the foot of a steep 

 slope, about forty yards long, on the top of which was a 

 big rock indented by a deep fissure, in which a creeper was 

 growing, covered with thick foliage, which obscured the 

 interior. When within ten yards the bear, standing on 

 his hind legs, peered out through the leaves. This was 

 too much for Baban, who turned about and made a clean 

 bolt of it. My shot struck the bear in the neck, and he 

 collapsed on the spot. Baliyah witnessed Baban's defeat, 

 and was intensely amused, declaring he was an impostor, 

 and the jadu (magic) a fraud. We then marched for 

 several days, through a cholera- stricken country, having 

 great difficulty in obtaining begaris to show us the jungle 

 tracks, eventually arriving at Ulleepoor, a beautiful spot, 

 surrounded by hills and lochs, like the Highlands of 



