146 TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



Going up a brushy hillside close by, we came suddenly upon her, 

 and were within twenty feet of her before we knew it. She saw us 

 first, wheeled around and came charging at us, dragging her hind- 

 quarters, jaws wide set and eyes glistening, while her angry growls 

 told us she was desperate and meant mischief. Ai-ndee shouted a 

 warning and vanished, but I stood still until she got within ten feet 

 of me, then fired at the centre of the yellow crescent on her breast, 

 which shot finished her. 



This specimen was an old female ( Ursus lahiatus), no doubt the 

 mother of the two smaller bears ; but, unfortunately for science, she 

 had been living in a rocky cavern which had a very low front door, 

 for the hair was worn oflf her back until the skin was quite bare. 

 She furnished a fine skeleton, however. 



The Indian black bear inhabits all India south of the Ganges, 

 and also Ceylon. It lives chiefly in I'ocky caverns and fissures and 

 feeds upon ants, both black and white, the larvae of certain longi- 

 com beetles which it forcibly sucks out of the ground, and various 

 fruits, especially that of the mohwa tree [Bassia latifolia). Like 

 our American bear, this Indian species is very fond of honey. Dur- 

 ing my hunting on the Animallais I never came upon any other 

 bears than those mentioned above, but Mr. Theobald has killed a 

 good many there. Ursus lahiatus is found in many other parts of 

 the Madras Presidency, viz. : the Neilgherries, the Shervaroy Hills, 

 Pulneys, the Wainaad, and also in Mysore. 



In due time another herd of elephants visited our forest, and 

 we lost no time in hunting it do-mi. The trail led us a merry-go- 

 round of between twenty-five and thirty miles before we came to 

 the end of it. Taking it up in our forest, it led out of that across 

 the Teckadee River into the Government Leased Forest, made an 

 immense circuit in that and recrossed the river again. Presently it 

 led once more out of our forest, across another river, and this time 

 entered the native territory of Cochin. "We hoped the herd would 

 recross the river higher up, and once more enter our hunting- 

 grounds, so we took off our clothes for the third time that day, 

 waded the river and kept on. Up hiU and down the trail led us, 

 through wet marshes, open glades, and dense forest, the signs 

 growing fresher every mile, but still it went farther and farther 

 into Cochin. At last, as it led us up a very steep and veiy slippery 

 mountain-side which fairly took our breath away, I vowed we had 

 fairly and squarely earned one of those elephants, and we were 

 going to have it, too ! The fine for shooting an elephant in Cochin 



