MY FIRST BEAR.

[Extracted from a Letter from a Gentleman in the Civil Service of India to a friend in England.]

In my last letter I told you I had gone to the hills for a holiday for the benefit of my health; and you will now be glad to hear that I am all the better for the change. After the heat of Calcutta, the freshness of the atmosphere here is most exhilarating, and out-of-door exercise, instead of being irksome or fatiguing, is positively most refreshing. I often wish you and Bessie and Fred were here, for I know you would enjoy it immensely. We are very quiet up here; there are some nice families resident here; then there are some of our men and a few army officers; and though we are not gay as society is in our cities, we are not without opportunities of recreation and pleasure.

“But I must tell you of a most amusing adventure that befel me here shortly after my arrival, which I do all the more readily, as it was considered quite an event for this place.

“Wanting to see if there was any shooting in the neighbourhood, I got four natives to accompany me to a rocky and mountainous district some few miles from here. I selected this spot, as I had heard that some time before a bear had been seen in the woods. I furnished my guides with guns and ammunition; and with a good stock of provender we started. The way was enlivened by the recital, by the natives, of the daring exploits they would perform, and of the unflinching courage which each of them possessed. They spoke of bears and even lions with the greatest contempt, and assured me that their experiences in shooting these wild beasts was most extensive.

“To tell you the truth, though I had heard about the bear, I was not very sanguine about meeting one, but I fortunately provided myself and companions with shot suited to his capacity. I might just as well have supplied my companions with peas—but there, I am anticipating. To come to the point, then, at once. We really did come across the bear, or, rather, he came across us; for whilst we were on some high rocks, one of the natives espied Master Bruin in the woods, trotting towards us. They all shouted at the top of their voices, in the hope of driving him off, but seeing that he was not to be so easily diverted, they then begged me to fire, as they very considerately said they should like me to have the honour of killing him.

“I knew if I did not, they would not, and that perhaps Bruin might kill some of us; so waiting till he came clear of the trees, so that I could get a good shot at him, I fired one barrel, and struck him somewhere in the head without killing him. It arrested his progress, however, and he stood still.

“He was now not more than a few yards from me; between us there was a deep ravine, which the bear could have easily cleared at a bound, but he thought better of it; and whilst he was reflecting on what course to take, I discharged my second barrel into his shoulder. This was enough for him; he turned round and retired into the woods.

“Where were my companions all this time?” you ask. They were behaving themselves in the most gallant manner. At the near approach of the bear they showed signs of fear; and when he came to the edge of the cliff, and seemed as if he would be on us with a bound, they all fell back in the greatest fright. One let his gun fall from his hand, and it fell down the ravine; two of them fairly, or, as I should say, unfairly, turned tail and ran off; and the fourth, running backwards, fell over a bush and performed an involuntary summersault. When they satisfied themselves that the bear had made off, and was not likely to be seen again, they plucked up courage to return, not at all ashamed of their cowardice. In fact, two of them had the effrontery to say that they were running off to get a shot at him from a point higher up on the rocks.

“However, even then they were too much afraid to show me the way up through the valley into the wood, as the ravine was rather wider than I cared to jump; and as it was getting late, and I was somewhat tired (not being quite so much up to work on my legs as I used to be in the Highlands), and I had to walk home, I was obliged to leave the issue of my shots doubtful.

“Next morning, however, there was some excitement near the Residency, occasioned by the bringing in of the carcass of a bear, which a party of natives declared they had that morning killed. They hoped to get a reward from the Resident for the destruction of an animal which might have done so much mischief but for their timely slaughter of him; but when I made my appearance, one of the valiant huntsmen, who was one of my brave comrades on the day previously, was slow to prefer his claim any longer.

“The fact was, he had thought I might have killed or severely wounded the bear, and so had gone into the woods to reconnoitre; and finding the dead body, had brought it in with his companions rejoicing. On examining the body I found it almost cold; so that Bruin must have retired to die after my second shot.”