Black Bears 235 



night a strange, crunching, rumbling sound above us 

 and around us woke me, and continued to go on 

 till I was again asleep. 



About five o'clock I awoke, bitterly cold, to find 

 the top of the tent bulging down and pressing on to 

 my bed. I tried to push it upwards, but it was very 

 heavy and I could not stir it, and very cold. Gradu- 

 ally the truth dawned upon me snow. Jumping up 

 and peering through the flap, I beheld a world of white 

 and the air thick with great flakes falling fast. This, 

 then, was burruff. 



Bed being the best place, I stayed there till late ; 

 the servants from time to time scraped the snow off 

 the tents. I looked out now and again the earth was 

 flat with snow, and throughout that day it snowed 

 harder than it had ever snowed before, if one might 

 guess at it ; the leaden depths of the sky descended 

 like a mine turned upside down on us. 



In the middle of the day S. appeared, drenched 

 to the skin. The path up had been bad, and over 

 some ground it was all he could do to get on at all. 

 It crossed the stream in many places, where they 

 waded up to their knees ; and for some distance, when 

 there was no room in the rock for a track at all, they 

 waded along up the bed of the stream. 



The first day they heard a bdrd singh towards 

 evening. The second day, late in the afternoon, they 

 saw what were probably three red bears on a hill 

 about two miles off, but even with glasses could not 

 be quite certain ; they climbed for three-quarters of 



