82 THE MARKHOR 



catch sight of him, he has taken to his heels and 

 shuffled off. 



Like all greedy creatures, our black friend of the 

 valley is much thicker skinned. Like them, too, he 

 is spiteful and quarrelsome. Directly he is wounded, 

 his temper becomes awful, and, bursting with rage, 

 the black bear will attack anything or anybody that 

 he thinks may have been the cause of his pain. He 

 will often revenge himself on one of his own tribe if 

 he cannot at once get at the actual ill-doer. Failing 

 any other, his best friend may come in for a sound- 

 ing box on the ears, and if there are several of them 

 anywhere near, a bloody hand-to-hand fight is likely 

 to ensue. The sportsman who happens to be a 

 spectator at one of these impromptu battles may, 

 with luck, get in several good shots and go off laden 

 with spoil. 



It is best to stalk the bear when he is either on 

 the same level or lower down than oneself, because 

 the best and strongest animal can only climb upwards 

 in a very clumsy fashion, and one has therefore 

 plenty of time to take sure aim. Downhill, on the 

 other hand, the angry black bear can rush with 

 tremendous and quite unexpected speed, no matter 

 how rough and stony his path may be. Woe betide 

 his assailant if he miss his mark ! 



