sit quiet a moment, and kept handling the lock of an old rifle, until I made up my mind that he would either shoot me or some of the half-a-dozen people whom, in spite of my remonstrance, he would have sitting near us, to my intense disgust; for my olfactory organs received a shock they did not get over for some time, from the offensive smell that was emitted by the exhalation from their bodies, the cocoa-nut oil in their hair, and the garlic and sour rice they had been eating.

At last the bison broke, and a fine bull came tearing down right in front of us, and, when about twenty paces distant, D— put up his piece; but, being an old and unserviceable piece of goods, it snicked, and away went the quarry in the thick jungle on the other side the watercourse.

I caught a glimpse of his hinder quarters as he was tearing along the rising ground on the opposite side of the ravine, and I let drive with my rifle, hoping to stop him by a chance shot. I heard the "thud" of the ball as it struck him, and doubled him up for the moment, but he was not hit in a vital place, and I heard him bellowing as he tore through the dense jungle that covers the sides of the hills.

Both D and I tracked him for some distance, and in some places large gouts of blood were visible; but on coming to a watercourse, which bore the marks of his having cleared at a bound, I gave over the

pursuit, and went in search of B

whom we heard fire a double shot. We found him taking out the offal of a doe spotted-deer he had killed, and preparing it for carriage. He had seen three bison break, but they were out of range of his rifle.

The beaters now made their appearance, and, slinging the deer on long poles, which they carried over their shoulders, took it to the place where we had left our horses. I chose a dozen of the most intelligent-looking of the number to accompany us, and dismissed the rest with a bucksheesh, telling them they would be well paid if they brought us news of large game. Then, mounting our horses, we rode off to the village where our tent had been sent, which was about six miles further, and found "Five Minutes" anxiously expecting our arrival, dinner being nearly ready.

We had a most refreshing bathe in a tank, on the bund or stone embankment of which our tent was pitched, under the shade of a beautiful banian-tree, and afterwards did ample justice to his entertainment. Poor D was in a dreadful way about his old piece, and I spared him the roasting I had fully intended to have given him for the nervous agitation he had shown whilst waiting for the bison to break.

After dinner was over I sent for the head man of the village, and told him our intention of setting out very early the next morning after bears, and we

were agreeably surprised to find he had already prepared people who knew their haunts to accompany us.

We assembled all our people in a circle, distributed the usual allowance of grog and tobacco, and afterwards heard all they had to say about the game to be found in the country, and the most effective manner of pursuing it. After I heard all their opinions, I made up my mind to start an hour before the first appearance of dawn for the hill where the bears were said to be, which was about a coss, or two miles, from the village, and to await their returning to their caves; as in this part of the country, during the hot weather, bears roam about the jungle in search of food all the night and return to their caves in the morning, where they remain during the intense heat of the day, issuing forth again at sunset. They live chiefly upon the wild fruits of the jungle and white ants, which latter insect they devour in thousands, by scraping a hole with their claws, and sucking them out of their nests. They are also passionately fond of honey, and show themselves wonderfully sharp in finding out wild bees' nests, climbing lofty trees in search of them.

CHAPTER XI.

BEAR-HUNTING.

We start for the Bear Hill.-The reconnaissance.-Bears afoot.Their strongholds invested.-A foraging party surprised.Two bears die.-Three more afoot.-Another couple yield their spoils. Desperate encounter with an enraged vixen, who almost proved a Tartar.—" The Old Shekarry" in a fix for a time, but wins the game at last.-The bag of the day.The return.

THE

HE next morning we were all up and equipped for sport by 2 A.M., and, after a substantial feed, started for the Bear Hill on foot, as the villagers said the route was difficult for horses.

At this season of the year the night is not at any time dark, and we managed to get along very well in Indian file, although the path was very narrow, and in some places we had to crawl along on our hands and knees. We arrived at the foot of the hill some time before sunrise, and here I halted the party, which numbered about twenty Coolies and villagers, and telling B to prevent any of them from straying, and to keep as quiet as possible, I went forward to

reconnoitre, accompanied by Googooloo, the Mulliarry, and two villagers who knew the bears' caves.

Although the hill was not more than 800 feet in height it was very steep, and the ascent was the more difficult on account of numberless rocky crags which were entwined with thick bush. At last we managed to climb up the dry bed of a watercourse, in which we noticed the fresh traces of bears in many places, and after a good deal of scrambling and climbing up ledges of rock, we arrived at the summit, which was a small table-land covered with tufts of coarse grass and large boulders of rock.

As we were going along Googooloo suddenly stopped, gave his usual grunt to attract attention, and tapping me on the shoulder, pointed me out two bears at the foot of the hill. With the aid of my glass I could see they were very busily engaged in digging up the earth; so, setting the Mulliarry to watch their movements, I went on to the caves, and, after a careful examination, found seven entrances, five of which bore marks of being inhabited by bears.

I sent one of the villagers and Googooloo to bring up the rest of the party as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb the game we knew was afoot, and by the time they arrived, I and the other villagers had managed to block up the two smallest entrances (which did not seem to have been frequented of late) with stones and pieces of rock.