184 SAVAGE SVANETIA, 



ment for the next half hour. I could cer- 

 tainly have bagged this bear, but for my 

 guide's intense desire to kill him himself; 

 and as I always find it best to humour these 

 fellows, I let him try to get a shot. Half 

 a dozen times he got fairly near to the stupid 

 brute, but it took such a long time to fix the 

 alpenstock in the ground, and adjust the rifle 

 on the rest so made, that the bear began 

 to move again before my man could pull 

 trigger ; and it is an article of the faith of 

 these primitive sportsmen never to waste a 

 charge on a moving object. 



At last the bear heard us, and took him- 

 self off, when, as the others we had seen 

 were no longer visible, we went back to 

 camp. Here, when my story had been told, 

 an immense amount of hand- shaking had to 

 be gone through with the men, who all looked 

 on my bear as already skinned and brought 

 in. I can't say I felt as comfortable about 



