MOSTLY ABOUT BEARS 168 



and marched for some days with my friend 

 Mr. Hart, when he was on a tour of inspection in 

 the Yeotmal district of Berar. While Mr. Hart 

 and Mr. Malcolm, the Deputy Conservator, were 

 inspecting the forests, I amused myself by still- 

 hunting. Sloth-bears in this part of India are 

 numerous, but the odds against meeting one 

 in daylight are considerable. 



On the morning of the 27th of January, in the 

 course of a stroll with a Gond forest guard, I 

 came across a male bear and shot him, killing 

 him with a single shot. In the evening of the 

 28th of January, the guard and I visited a grove 

 of wild plum-trees at dark, and found a bear 

 there, which I shot. The first bullet laid him low, 

 but, to prevent any trouble, as it was dusk, I 

 put a second bullet into him. On the morning 

 of the 29th of January, walking with the same 

 forest guard and a local native, I saw a large 

 male bear in the distance. The local native was 

 very frightened, and sought safety in flight, 

 but I walked up to the bear, taking such cover as 

 was available, and when I was about 50 yards 

 from him I fired from a standing position and 

 killed him. 



On the 31st of January I was walking with the 

 Gond and another Muhammadan forest guard, 

 and the Gond saw a bear in a hole in the bank 

 of a smaU ravine. My success with the other 

 three bears had made me confident, and I simply 

 walked to the other side of the ravine and partly 

 ascended the bank, which was sloping on that 

 side, until I could see a black mass in the hole. 

 It was a she-bear with cubs, and apparently 



