86 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



cubs) ; three of tlie four ran away, but 

 the fourth attacked him and mangled 

 him terribly. When the bear left him, 

 he had managed to climb into a raised 

 stage in the clearing, used by watchers 

 at crop time, and there he was found. 

 When brought to me, the poor feUow 

 was delirious ; the bear had scalped him, 

 and injured the skull so as to expose the 

 brain, while the skin of the forehead and 

 nose were torn downward and overhung 

 the mouth, giving the face a strange ani- 

 mal appearance. In spite of these injuries 

 he did not seem to be in pain, but sat 

 up and talked wildly, fancying himself a 

 raja, and inviting me to sit beside him. 

 He was carried in at once to the small 

 military hospital at Sedasheghur, but 

 did not long survive. 



