XI 
THE BEAR 
407 
low bushes upon the margin of the sal forest on 
my right, and a large bear emerged about 100 yards 
from my position. It stood upon the open for a 
few seconds, evidently taking a close scrutiny of 
the surroundings, prior to a run across the country, 
where no chance would be afforded for concealment. 
It suddenly espied the elephant, and, apparently 
without a moment s hesitation, it charged from the 
great distance of 100 yards at full speed directly 
upon the nervous Hurri Ram. I had not long to 
wait, but just as I pulled the trigger, when the 
bear was within 10 yards, the elephant whisked 
round and bolted down hill across the open, 
towards the portion of the jungle that was about 
250 yards upon my left. Nothing would stop 
the runaway brute, but fortunately I had stationed 
a police constable at the very spot for which the 
elephant was making, and he, seeing the state of 
affairs, ran forward, shouting at the top of his 
voice and flourishing his rifle ; this had the effect 
of turning the runaway, just as it was about to 
enter the forest, where we should in all probability 
have been smashed. 
The bear had in the meantime gone across 
country, and although we hunted it for more than 
a mile, we never saw it again. This was a purely 
unprovoked attack, and it would have been inter¬ 
esting to have seen the result had the elephant 
not bolted. I imagine that the bear would have 
seized it by the leg, and afterwards would have 
attempted a retreat. 
