12 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
the stem : there were no intervening branches betwixt 
this and the precipice, the edge of which it nearly- 
overhung when in its natural position. As soon as 
the bough was warped to the necessary degree of 
tension, the mountaineer crept cautiously as near the 
extremity as he could with safety, followed as cau- 
tiously by the bear ; but, the moment he saw his angry 
foe upon the bent branch, he dexterously let himself 
down by the cord to the ground. The bear, thus un- 
expectedly deprived of its victim, attempted to turn, 
in order to retrace its steps ; no sooner however had 
it relaxed its grasp of the bough for this purpose, than 
the hill-man suddenly cut the cord, which had been se- 
curely tied to the stump of a tree, and the depressed 
branch instantly gained its original position with an 
irresistible momentum. The suddenness and vigour 
of the recoil shook the bear from its hold, elancing it, 
like the fragment of a rock from a catapult, into 
the empty air ; uttering a stifled yell, it was hurled 
over the precipice, and, falling with a dull crash upon 
the rocks beneath, no doubt soon became a prey to 
the vultures and jackals. The address with which 
the bold highlander accomplished this dangerous ex- 
ploit was as astonishing as it was novel. 
In the course of our progress towards Serinagur, 
we found all kinds of European trees and plants in 
abundance. We saw sweet-briar, with and without 
thorns ; walnut, maple, and willow-trees ; apple and 
pear, peach, apricot, and barberry-trees ; birch, yew, 
beech, pine, ash, and fir-trees : we saw likewise the 
mulberry, laurel, hazel, and marsh-mallow. Rasp- 
berries, strawberries, and gooseberries, abound in this 
