RIGHT AND LEFT AT BEARS. 101 



tliat time killed a brown bear, or, as it is sometimes called, a 

 snow-bear. Taking care to keep well to leeward, we easily 

 _u;ot up to within a few yards of them ; for although these 

 bears, like all their tribe, have a marvellously acute sense of 

 smell, their eyesight is comparatively defective — so much 

 so, that when occupied feeding, one might almost approach 

 them behind the cover of their own hairy bodies, if not to 

 windward of them. The first shot was planted well behind 

 the shoulder of the nearest beast, which went trundling head 

 over heels down the hillside, until it fell into the torrent 

 below, where we afterwards found it in a deep pool. Before 

 the other fellow had recovered from his astonishment, the 

 contents of my second barrel were into him. With a loud 

 grunt he started off downwards, but before he had gone 

 very far we could see that his race was nearly run, for he 

 showed certain symptoms of approaching dissolution. I 

 was the more satisfied at having shot these two beasts right 

 and left, because, even if a lucky fluke, as it probably was, 

 it impressed old Eamzan with the idea at the time, however 

 erroneous it might afterwards prove, that his endeavour to 

 show me ibex might not be quite fruitless, and he conse- 

 quently would be more likely to take pains to find them. 



The Himalayan brown bear {Ursus isabellinus) or 

 " Kooneea Harpat," as it is called in Cashmere, usually in- 

 habits the cold regions of the higher ranges near the snow. 

 But being omnivorous like the black bear (here called 

 " Seeah Harpat "), it is often found as low down as the 

 Cashmere valley, which is only 5000 ft., where it grows fat 

 on fruit and grain, and even carrion, for which latter it has 

 a great predilection, when it can find it. I once shot a big 

 brown bear in the Cashmere valley while the beast was in 

 the act of devouring the putrid remains of a dead cow. In 

 spring, after waking up from its winter snooze, it carries 

 little or no fat, its food then chiefly consisting of green 

 grass, which may often be seen regularly cropped down by 

 bears as if cattle had been grazing on it. The colour of 



