BEARS. 223 



elation of a joke or of fun of any kind on the part of the 

 subject of our present notice ; in fact, except in the enjoyment 

 of a keen scent, it is remarkable how obtuse he generally 

 is, wanting even in the common sense which ought to tell 

 him that an injury inflicted on his august person in front 

 cannot be the malfaisance of a friend or relative in his imme- 

 diate rear ; and that his revilings and violent assaults in re- 

 taliation in such instances are unjustifiable in the extreme; 

 but he is not open to conviction nor to arguments, unless they 

 are presented him through a grooved barrel. 



I have sometimes heard the bear spoken of as a rare 

 animal in the Lower Provinces, whereas it is common in many 

 districts, and it used to be very plentiful even thirty or forty 

 years ago. The sloth bear may be found still in some numbers 

 in Chota Nagpoor, Orissa, Midnapoor, Bancoorah, and in some 

 parts of the Santhal Pergunnahs, and it is not yet extinct in 

 Gya and the southern jungles and hills of Shahabad. The 

 Malayan variety may occasionally be met with in the wilder- 

 ness east of Tipperah and Chittagong, and another kind in 

 Assam, the Khassia Hills, and Darjeeling. The sloth bear 

 (TTrsus labiatus) is much the largest and fiercest, and the most 

 worthy of the sportsman's pursuit, and accordingly it is 

 regularly sought where it abounds in any numbers. 



About the commencement of the cold season, before the 

 rocky hills and the " sal " woods, which it delights to inhabit, 

 have been disturbed, the bear may be found close to villages 

 and cultivation ; and if sugar-cane or Indian corn-fields be 

 within reach, he will be a regular visitor to them, collecting 

 tithe and royalty, notwithstanding the outcries and anathemas 

 of the despoiled husbandmen. About this time, too, Madame 

 gives birth to two or three cubs, in the dry bed of a water- 

 course or deep ravine, under some steep overhanging bank, 

 not distant from gardens and cultivation, so that she may not 

 be compelled to absent herself from her family for any great 

 length of time, as her young cubs are extremely helpless, and 

 liable to fall an easy prey to a prowling jackal, wolf, or 

 hyena, the male parent at such periods taking small share in 



