548 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NA TUBAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol XI, 



enquiries, agreed that the Himalayan black bear (Ursus torquatus) does not 

 hybernate, as these animals are frequently seen during winter round the villages,, 

 and I was told that they occasionally break into unoccupied houses to look for 

 grain. My informants, on the other hand, all insisted that the brown bear 

 does hybernate for five months, but none of them had ever actually found 

 one asleep. The fact is at Chamba, where I was shooting, nearly all the 

 villagers in the high hills leave during the early winter for lower and warmer 

 parts, and those who stop do not go up into the mountains when once the 

 snow has fallen, and so have no real opportunity of seeing brown bears, if 

 these were about. I drew attention to the fact that the brown bear in 

 captivity does not sleep during winter, and they all said " of course he does- 

 not, because he cannot get the particular herb which he always eats to send 

 him to sleep. " One of my shikaries told me that once upon a time there 

 was a certain villager who actually saw a brown bear carrying in his mouth 

 some herbs ; he followed it to a short distance to a cave, and on arriving, the 

 bear eat up the herbs and then lay down and went to sleep. The villager 

 then returned to the place where he first saw the bear and found a piece of 

 the herb, which he took home and divided amongst his family. They all, 

 including himself, eat of it and they all went to sleep and did not wake up 

 for four months (saving money by this). The following antumn this same 

 villager saw the same bear rooting about, and, suspecting he was getting the 

 sleeping herb, watched him; but the bear somehow knowing and resenting this, 

 selected this time a poisonous herb, similar in appearance to the other. 

 This the man gathered after the bear had gone away and divided it with 

 his family; the result being that they all died. 



It seems to me a very strange thing, if the brown bear does hybernate for 

 some five months every winter, that absolutely no sign of the instinct should 

 be observable in the young of this species when captured. I intend to return 

 to Chamba next March, when I shall renew my enquiries. 



Dbarwar, December, 1897. G. S. RODON, Major. 



No. XVI— THE "KOL-BAHLU," AND THE INSTINCT OF 

 FEAR IN WILD ANIMALS. 

 Captain Betham in the November issue of our Journal asks for informa- 

 tion in the matter of the " Kol-Bahlu," a subject in which I specially 

 interested myself some years ago. That interest extended to stalking the 

 melodious jackal at any reasonable hour of the day or night and endeavouring 

 to ascertain the cause of his discontent. On at least two occasions I found 

 that the excitement was caused by a tiger, and I had a good opportunity of 

 examining the proceedings. The tiger took no notice of the jackal, who also- 

 showed no signs of fear, although he kept at a respectful distance, say 15 to 

 20 yards. Occasionally he would utter the weird cry we are all familiar with, 

 and then sit down or stroll around in an unconcerned manner. On another 



