112 BEARS. 



resting in the shuldarie. after an awful climb after ibex, by my man 

 coming in to say there was a very large red bear feeding on a " got 

 nearly a mile below. I had been away on ibex ground all the forenoon, 

 and had been driven home by the intense cold of snow, sleet, and strong 

 wind, but it had cleared in the evening. I was loth to stir, but, as my 

 man insisted on the great size of the brute, I strolled out and had a good 

 look through the glasses. Yes, he was a beauty, but T never started with 

 less energy than on that occasion. I took the '500 double and clambered 

 down until I got amongst some boulders, which afforded me good cover 

 for a stalk ; by their kindly aid I got within sixty yards, but his stern 

 was towards me, so I could not fire, I thought. I wound round to get a 

 shot at his shoulders, when he suddenly looked up, straight at me, and I 

 found I had been mistaken ; I had taken his shoulders for his rump, his 

 head being buried in the ground, rooting about, and partly concealed by 

 the rocks. I was just about to fire when he bolted, so T stood up, and, 

 when he came out clear of a slight undulation, about 120 yards off, I 

 fired ; over he went, and died immediately. The bullet hit in the loin 

 high, about a foot too far back, and some Gin. too high, but the shock 

 was so great that he never recovered himself. On skinning him we found 

 his inside cut to ribbons ; the bullet had travelled forward and down- 

 wards, bowels, paunch, lungs, heart, and liver being all hard hit. The 

 coat was the best I ever shot, but not the best I ever saw. I will now 

 tell the tale of that trophy which I failed to secure. 



I had been for a tour along excellent ibex ground, but been baffled by 

 the nature of the precipices, which were quite impassable for such 

 distances, that we could cover but little ground in an entire day. There 

 was an awful wild grandeur in those mountains, and game was secure 

 enough against man as long as it remained there, although exposed to 

 other dangers from snow-leopards, avalanches, and snow-slips. After 

 three days toil, sleeping little and shivering much, I decided to return 

 to the river, cross, and have a rest at my permanent camp. I had 

 heard of a wonderful bear on the valley side, but did not expect to see him, 

 when suddenly my man pointed out a very white mass moving along 

 towards, but below us. With the glass I discovered it was a red bear, 

 with a splendid coat, so long that it wobbled about like the heavy fleece 

 on a sheep at shearing time! "By Jove! there is the very bear," I 

 thought, and we squatted to watch him. He was about a mile away at 

 first, but approached at a good pace, so much so that I decided he had 

 been alarmed elsewhere, and was seeking his refuge. He at last reached 

 a gorge running down from us, entered it, and lay down under a pine, on 

 a gentle slope, burying his head in his two fore -paws ! I never had the 

 luck to see a bear in a wild state do this before or since ; it was quite a 

 study to see how he settled himself and prepared to sleep. He was too 

 far away for me to attempt a shot some 500 yards so I directed my 

 men to take me down the mountain, outside the gorge, until we had 

 reached his level. They did so, but I could not get into the gorge, nor 



