50 THE HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR. 



bushes. A twig must have turned the bullet, for the Bear went off untouched, but my second 

 bullet catching him in the loins, as he turned away, raked him completely, and after gallop- 

 ing about two hundred yards down hill he stopped in a patch of jungle, where I found him 

 lying dead. He was a large Bear and had a very good skin. 



In Pangi, in 1870, I was one day marching with my wife along a narrow valley, on my 

 way to some favorite Ibex ground, when one of the coolies came to tell me that he had seen 

 two Black Bears. Hurrying on along the mountain track, I soon discovered the animals 

 lying fast asleep on a flat rock close to the opposite bank of the stream which ran through 

 the valley. I easily got down to within eighty yards, and rudely awakened the larger of the 

 pair by a bullet in the chest. He rolled off the rock, roaring and howling, and the other 

 having joined him, the two scrambled over the stones by the river's edge. I soon saw that 

 the wounded one was about done for, but I gave him another shot to make sure, and then 

 turned my attention to his partner. She was ascending the opposite bank when I fired at 

 her, and by the time that the smoke cleared away she had crept under a fallen pine tree. I 

 could just make out something black, so I fired my second barrel, but nothing moved, and it 

 was evident that she was also disposed of. My wife, who remained on the path, had a good 

 view of the fun. 



It was impossible to cross the river where we were, and as skinning the Bears would 

 occupy some time, I pitched my camp about a mile farther on, where there was a bridge, and 

 went back with a few men to strip off the skins. We found that the male was a remarkably 

 large one, and the female so old that her teeth were worn down to mere stumps : being early 

 in the season both skins were in first-rate order. 



The people of the village close to which the Bears were killed were delighted, as the 

 brutes had long haunted the place and done much damage both to crops and cattle. 



On another occasion, having hunted in vain for Markhoor on a hill which used to be 

 famous for them, I one morning, just as the sun began to make its rays unpleasantly felt, 

 discovered a large Black Bear in the act of making himself comfortable for the day. He 

 had chosen the base of a large tree, which afforded ample shade, for his noonday siesta, and 

 as soon as I saw that his arrangements were complete, I stalked quietly down to him. I 

 easily approached to within fifteen yards, and poor Bruin never awoke until a bullet behind 

 the ear from my express rifle gave him his quietus. 



The best way of getting Black Bears is to beat any wooded ravines that may be in the 

 vicinity of the fields or fruit trees where they are known to feed. By sending men out at 

 daylight to mark them down as they return to the ravines much time may be saved, but the 

 sport is not a very exciting one. Early in winter the Bears may frequently be found on the 

 oak trees, and may be quietly ' potted ' as they sit ! 



