184 WANDERINGS OF A 



of bloodj and I had no sooner gained the cover, when, with 

 a loud snort, he advanced towards me, rearing on his hind 

 legs, when I planted another hall in his chest ; then, with 

 a yeU, he turned, and entering the jungle, was soon lost to 

 view. We traced his footprints from one place to another 

 through tangled hush, until night came on and compelled us 

 to desist. The following morning saw me up before the sun, 

 and on my way towards the scene, with villagers to assist in 

 beating the bush. After several hours' fruitless search, the 

 animal was found lying stiff and dead under a tree. He was 

 wounded in five different places. We removed the sMn, but 

 the shickaree was not content until he came into possession 

 of the gall-bladder likewise,' the contents of which are much 

 prized as medicine by the hill people. He, moreover, was 

 careful to remove the liver, and assured me that the number 

 of lobes indicated the age of the individual. This piece of 

 anatomical information I had subseq[uently cause to doubt, as 

 all the adult specimens I examined had exactly eight lobes. 



It was fortunate our antagonist was the brown instead of 

 the black bear, inasmuch as had we been brought to close 

 quarters it is highly probable he would have attempted an 

 attack on us. 



On the following day we struck our little camp, and moved 

 eastward over a pass covered with thick beds of snow, and 

 had not proceeded any great distance before a very heavy 

 snow-storm came on, in the middle of which we were sur- 

 prised by a courier appearing with our "" home letters," kindly 

 forwarded to us by the British resident at Serinuggur, Major 

 M'Gregor. Among the items of overland news was recorded 

 the death of the poet who has sung so sweetly of the scenes 

 we were visiting. By the time the valley was reached, the 

 snow, which had fallen thickly on the mountain, now ac- 



