i 4 8 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



shot some twenty yards in advance of me, and then 

 found that the Purdhan had stolen away unob- 

 served by me and had had a pot at the bears on 

 his own account. All was still in a moment. The 

 birds flew off on the report of the gun, and the cubs 

 also bolted ; but I could see that the she-bear 

 was struck in the side, as she bit viciously at the 

 wounded part, growling savagely as she tugged out 

 bunches of hair. The Purdhan now attempted to 

 retreat to where I was concealed, and in his flitting 

 from tree to tree the bear caught sight of him and 

 at once gave chase. It is astonishing the pace such 

 a clumsy-looking animal as Bruin can put on. Be- 

 fore the man got half-way to me the bear nearly 

 overtook him, and it was only by dodging behind 

 the trunk of a large tree that he escaped her 

 clutches. Finding the man had stopped, she rose 

 on her hind legs and with her snout elevated high 

 in the air gave vent to a series of short snapping 

 howls, such as one hears from the tame animals 

 brought round by showmen when irritated. With 

 a kind of a waddle she advanced to the tree and 

 clutched at the trunk, but it was much too thick 

 for her to get at her foe. Down she now went on 

 her fours and chivied the man round and round, 

 but here he had the advantage, as he could turn 

 more quickly than the bear and so kept well out 

 of her reach. After a dozen turns or more, finding 

 she could not reach him, she once more rose on her 

 hind legs and began clawing the trunk of the tree 

 and scoring the bark with her great nails. Then 

 she stuffed both forepaws into her mouth and 



