202 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



later covered with blood to some inches from the 

 point. 



The sport was too much hidden by the thick 

 jungle to be clearly observed. From my position on 

 the hillside I could hear the beaters' cries, and from 

 their excited tones I knew that the bear was giving 

 them all that they could look after. Occasional 

 glimpses of them through the growth made me feel 

 decidedly out of the game, and since the bear was 

 so slow in coming up to me, the evident alternative 

 was to go down to him. I met him in a little clear- 

 ing at the foot of the slope, ruffled and very angry 

 from his fight with the beaters. But he was given 

 no time to decide whether to attack or flee. A shot 

 behind the shoulder accomplished what was neces- 

 sary, and put him out of action for the coup de 

 grace. The beaters arrived one by one, breathless 

 and perspiring, but all triumphant at the result of 

 their efforts. 



We had a triumphal procession on the return to 

 camp : first came the two tom-toms, banging away 

 like a regimental drum-corps ; then the bear, slung 

 on a pole supported on the backs of two coolies; 

 thirdly, .the sportsman, trying modestly to repress 

 an irrepressible grin ; fourthly, the shikaris ; and last 

 but by no means least, the fifty honkers, all discuss- 

 ing the event at once, like so many crows. As we 



