THE OLD BEAR STILL ALIVE. 273 



had gone about half a mile, just as I met my 

 man coming up the hill, the belt broke, and 

 away scampered the little wretch. We 

 started after it down hill at a break-neck 

 pace, but to no purpose, it was impossible 

 to overtake it : and when it began to 

 ascend the opposite hill, we were so blown 

 that we were glad to cry enough ; and 

 went home to breakfast thoroughly dis- 

 gusted. 



I thought, however, that we might as 

 well have the skin of the old one, and went 

 out in the evening to bring it in. Strange 

 to say we foimd her still alive, although 

 unable to move from the spot, and I had to 

 put a bullet through her head. She must 

 have fallen at least two hundred feet, 

 enough of itself to have killed her, one 

 would imagine. 



We had just finished stripping off the 

 skin, and were about to come away, when 

 we heard one of the young ones crying, and 

 soon after saw it near the spot where I had 

 first found them in the morning, having 



