136 SIZE AND FEEOCITY. 



are sleeping. Their carnivorous propensities 

 are the same as the snowy bear ; they like 

 sheep and goats occasionally, but are not 

 at all particular as to the freshness of the 

 meat, for they are often caught in the 

 same trap, and with the same baits, as the 

 leopard. 



The bear in the hills grows to an immense 

 size, and is a powerful and often ferocious 

 animal. Wilson has loaded four men with 

 the fat alone of a single bear, which eight 

 or ten stout Puharries could not lift from 

 the ground. They are always in much the 

 best condition after feeding on acorns, and 

 whenever there has been a failure of that 

 particular crop, they are comparatively poor 

 and thin. Of their ferocity the number of 

 Puharries met with thi'oughout the hills, 

 with their faces either completely torn away 

 or horribly disfigured, is a sad proof In 

 almost every instance the face is the part 

 the brute aims at, tearing away the nose, 

 cheeks, and nearl}^ all the flesh. 



Various are the ways the encounters take 



