About Bears 323 



Horrible hairy and human, 

 The bear that looks like a man, 



is a poetic inexactitude, for a bear does not 

 attack on his hind legs ; but there are a good 

 many natives of Kashmir who, like " the old 

 blind beggar," have paid dearly for an encounter 

 with him. 



Let me try to describe a bear hank in Kashmir. 

 A few white tents dotted on a strip of turf by 

 the banks of a stream that might be in the 

 Peak district. The village near by is hidden 

 in walnut and fruit trees, through the tops of 

 which glints the graceful spire of the mosque. 

 Beyond the stream, the hillsides are cloven by 

 forest - filled valleys, all in autumn's burning 

 tints, which alternate with bare grassy ridges. 

 As we issue from our tents, the hoar-frost on 

 the grass is melting, the sweet scent of a 

 Himalayan wood- fire is in the air, and over 

 the hills hangs the morning's veil of blue mist. 

 Breakfast is eaten in the open near a roaring 

 fire, and while the ladies retire to put on the 

 latest thing in shikar helmets, pipes are lit, 

 and the shikaris come up with their plans for 

 the day. "Four beats before lunch and two 

 after, inshallah a bear or two in most of them, 

 while in the first beat there is a good eight- 



