38o wild beasts AND THEIR WA YS chap. 
eighth was the only bullet that struck the bear! 
This had entered between the shoulders vertically, 
proving the correctness of his description, as he 
must have shot directly downwards. The bullet 
had passed through the centre of the heart, and 
had escaped near the brisket, having penetrated 
completely through this formidable animal. 
Upon my return to England I immediately pur¬ 
chased a similar revolver of Messrs. Colt and Co. 
—the long frontier pistol, *450 bullet. 
Although bears were scarce, we occasionally met 
them unexpectedly. As a rule, I took Jem Bourne 
and Texas Bill out shooting, the man Gaylord had 
to look after the twelve or thirteen animals, and little 
Henry, the German cook, was left in camp to assist 
my wife. Upon one of these rather dull days the 
camp was enlivened by the visit of three large bears. 
These creatures emerged from the neighbouring 
jungle, and commenced a search for food within 50 
yards of the camp, only separated by a narrow 
streamlet of 10 feet in width. For about twenty 
minutes they were busily engaged in working up 
the ground like pigs, in search of roots or worms ; 
in this manner they amused themselves harmlessly, 
until they suddenly observed that they were 
watched, after which they retreated to the forest. 
My acquaintance Bob Stewart assured me that 
the bears had become so shy, that the only way to 
succeed was to “jump a bear.” This term was 
explained as follows: you were to ride through 
forest, until you came across the fresh track of a 
