MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 167 



No. XX.— THE INDIAN SLOTH BEAE. 



Much has from time to time been written about the Indian Sloth Bear, 

 but perhaps the following notes on the peculiarities of the animal may be 

 found of some interest : — 



One evening there was brought into the village where I happened to be 

 encamped a woman who had been bitten on the leg in two places by a bear. 

 The woman at the time the accident happened was stooping in high grass 

 which she was cutting, and her story was that three bears suddenly came on 

 her, one of which bit her. 



It seems probable that this attack was made through fright at suddenly 

 coming on the woman, and, had the bears seen her from a little distance, they 

 would have avoided her. On the following morning I went out to the place 

 where the bears were said to live, and found it was a dry water-course with 

 large rocks here and there. I was standing near the edge of a fall, some 

 fifteen feet high, looking for some of my men who had gone in another direc- 

 tion, when my attention was suddenly drawn to a bear about eighty yards off 

 quietly moving down the bed of the water-course towards me. I at once 

 seized my rifle and fired, the result being the usual crying roar which bears 

 generally make when struck. The animal was apparently unable to get 

 away, or did not try to, and almost immediately another bear came up to the 

 wounded one from what I afterwards found to be a hole under a rock in the 

 bed of the water-course. It probably came to sympathise and see what the row 

 was about, but was received badly, for the wounded one struck at it with its 

 paws and made more noise. The unwounded bear then began to resent the treat- 

 ment and made a great noise, whereupon I fired at it, and the tumult increased. 

 A third bear then sprang up from the same hole and came to the two wounded 

 ones, probably for the same reason as the second one came ; another shot, 

 and number three also began to cry aloud. They were now all together, and, 

 as soon as they were quiet, I walked up and found two of them dead and the 

 third dying. They were lying almost touching each other. All appeared 

 about the same size, and were no doubt a female and two nearly full-grown cubs. 



On another occasion, after stalking cheetul, I had lost my way back to my 

 camp and only had one man with me who could not assist me. It was getting 

 dusk and raining slightly, so, walking up a small hill, I stood on a large rock 

 to see if I could discover my tent. I could not and was just beginning to 

 think that I should have to sleep in the jungle, when from under the rock 

 on which I was standing a bear got up and ran down the hill. I fired and it 

 apparently dropped dead about thirty yards off. Almost immediately 

 another bear got up from the same place and followed the first, and while 

 I was aiming at it the man, who was with me on my left, touched me and 

 pointed with his finger to my right. I turned my head and saw a third bear 

 standing on a level with me about four or five yards off and looking at me. 

 It had apparently come up round the corner of the rock from the same spot 



