CHAPTER IX 



A bear adventure — Following up the tracks — A black object seen — An 

 erroneous conclusion — Firing too hastily — An old woman shot dead 

 — Howls from the Press — Bloodthirsty suggestions — Another bear 

 adventure — A short-sighted sportsman — " Thinking it was a bear " 

 — " What, not dead yet ? " — The second barrel — A revelation and 

 explanation — Disturbmg the bees — Pandemonium — Horses stung to 

 death — Floods in Khandesh — A perilous adventure — Saving a woman's 

 life — Native gratitude — A thankless task — A change of headquarters 

 — My mosque bungalow — Said to be haunted — The ghost appears — 

 Life at Nundobar — Coursing jackals, etc. — Cholera epidemic — A 

 village devastated — Lose my cook — Death of the apothecary — I 

 turn doctor — A successful prescription — Administering the mixture — 

 My patient recovers — A claim for damages — A poUce mutiny averted 

 — Drastic measures — ^My orders upheld — My first attempt at spearing 

 a panther on horseback — An exciting chase — The panther crouching 

 — Avoids the thrust^ — Seeks refuge amongst the rocks — A lucky 

 escape — Panther spearing — A dangerous but most attractive form 

 of sport — Railways and their influence on game — Revisiting old 

 hunting grounds — Ravages caused by axe and plough — The march 

 of civilization — Jungle now devoid of game — Sic transit gloria 

 mundi. 



Shortly after the incident just related, we heard of another 

 bear adventure or, rather, to put it more correctly, one in 

 which a bear, although the object of pursuit, was not 

 actually encountered, yet, indirectly, was the cause of what 

 occurred. 



A friend of ours — ^the Forest Officer of the district — 

 was out shooting, and happening to come upon the fresh 

 tracks of a bear, was following them up, when he saw a 

 black object moving in the jungle, a little distance off. 

 Concluding, very naturally in the circumstances, that this 

 was the beast he was after, he fired and saw the animal, as 

 he thought, fall in a heap. 



Forcing his way through the jungle, he went up to it, 

 when imagine his horror to find, instead of a bear, a rough, 

 black blanket with an old woman lying dead beneath it. 

 62 



