NATURALIST IN INDIA. 299 



magnificent forests of the Duchinpara, was among the most 

 beautiful and varied we had hitherto trodden. The wild- 

 looking grassy glades and groves of pine and birch, undulating 

 for miles, and sloping downwards into densely-wooded valleys, 

 are among the most delightful and captivating of Cashmerian 

 mountain scenery. We passed near the caves of Umernath, 

 and along the pathway by which many a footsore pilgrim 

 was hastening towards the sacred shrine in the gypsum rock. 

 At Pilgam we found our old shickarees, Barshah and EHishah, 

 who by previous arrangements had come to accompany us to 

 the deer-forests. In the meantime, while our commissariat 

 was being replenished, we employed a few days in huntiag 

 the neighbouring forests and hUl-sides, and Young killed a 

 black bear near the village One day, when crossing a moun- 

 tain-top, I came on an Isabella bear and cub feeding intently 

 on wild carrots and roots of strawberries, which both were 

 tearing up with their fore-paws. Desirous of trying how 

 near I could approach unobserved, as the wind was very 

 favourable and the animals busily engaged searching for food, 

 I crept on hands and knees within 10 feet before either 

 took any notice of me, when the old dame gave a grunt, and 

 scampered off as fast as her legs would carry her, followed 

 by the bewildered cub, which, astonished at its mother's 

 timidity, turned round several times and gazed at us in 

 astonishment, I have observed that this bear's powers of 

 vision are by no means good, and of little use to the animal 

 beyond 12 or 15 yards. I believe they depend almost entirely 

 on smell and hearing for their safety. I discharged the con- 

 tents of my double-barrelled rifle into the old dame as she 

 rushed down the steep, but neither bullet brought her down. 

 EUishah would, however, persist in asserting that we would 

 find her, and led me a wild-goose chase through the forest 



