The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1867-04-03
Bear Hunting in India.

r;diculous than the sublime. 1t is, in truth,
casiIv avoided and easily killed by a person
who T. cool and collected, and its awful ges-
,,ros not>bel!ied figure, straddling pace and
f,nn, noises make it an object Of merrlment
'af,ano. ,ban one Of fear. The bear is most
cas;Iv shot on foot. Elephants and horses are
80 r,1urb alarmed at the animal as to get un-
~,o,,ornabIo Il is a notorious fact that many
3rst.rotc tioer-clcphants will not come near a
boo. or for moment stand his charge. Il
have seen some ludicrous results from the en-
counters Of these beasts. On one occasion, IN
1887, the sergeant maj Of the Ramgurh bat
talon, fine old soldier, but handler perhaps
with the musket than the fowlIng- piece, was
invited to Join our party IN an excursion 10
beat up the quarters OF a renowned bear near
the village Of Seraiekcla, Snghbhoom. we
were all mounted upon elephants, and at about
three miles from camp arrived at the bush
Jungle, which the animal was known to fire.
uuent We entered as usual, in line, seven OF
eight elephants abreast. The sportsmen con-
sisted of our second in command, the Doctor,
myself, the sergeant ma or, and the RaJah OF
Seraiekcla, a fine young rajpoot who rode his
own elephant. Wehad commlssarat elephants,
and not being provided with houdahs, had to
sit upon pads-thiDgs like huge mattresses. 1t
is not difficult to keep your seat on these SO
long as the elephant joys evenly along, but
should anything disturb the animals equan-
unity, the rider must instantly lay hold of the
ropes that bind the pad or ''guddce " to ITS
body, or else be rolled off upon the road,
there being nothing at the edge OF the mat
tress to prevent his cjectmcnt. Hence it arises
that, in ascending or descending steep.hilIs, OF
on very rough ground, where the elephant
has to straddlc over rocks or timber and STRIDE
across ravincs etc, the sportsman has but one
hand available for his gun, and can at times III
afford even that. 1t may be understood,
therefore. how it was in our case that when
the bear we had come to exterminate charged
our line, which he did most unexpectedly, IN
stead of receiving a volley, he met with moth
inc apparently but the protoundest ooeIsances
from us. who had been thrown into all manner
of postures, prone and suplne, BY the sudden
start and cOuntermarch OF our elephants,
which were with great difficulty pulled up and
brought round to face their aSsaIant. AS Tor
me, | was so exhausted with laughter at the
ridiculous figure we all cut, that | should have
made no attempt to shoot the bear had he
been close to me but he was elsewhere en-
gagged, having selected the sergeant MAJOR S
e]enhant. which I could see in full flight, tor
his individual attention. 1t was most ludl-
crous sight, the elephant stumbling away with
his trunk out as if to show where he was 60
inc Tback to camp and his tail straight II
the other direction as though warning OFT the
bear, who, needless of the hint, charged and
charged again, roaring horribly, when the e.
ephant lunged heavy hind leg at him. AL
this while the pad was pitching and rolling
like a small craft in tumutuous sea, and the
SERGEANT major, grievously tumbled about
endcavorng every moment to seize his CUR
and shoot the enemy in bis wake, and as
quickly obliged to let 90 and seize The pat
ropes. To the edge of the jungle the chase
continued. when the bear, content with eject
ing the enemy from his domnons, desstet
from further pursuit but the elephant, as i
the habit with this timid animal, continued HI
fioht REGARDLESS Of the frantic efforts Of tn
mahout to bring him to stand-stliI and neVe
stopped till he had taken the cnraged Vetefa
back TO the tents.
An old tusker may occasionally bsmet Wit
who fears bear as little as ne docs " t,Se'
tnt Claimants of this description are seIdof
approved of tor shooting, beng savage an
uniruly when excited by game atoot. ono
had the misfortune 10 ride such an amman OF
bear shooting, and when we had 1ouhd an
surrounded our quarry, the efforts OF my Gle
nhant 10 oct at it were more annoying, PEI
hans. than if he had fed away altogether
The Ground was so rocky that the huge peas
two or three times nearly fell, and as otte
nearly hurled me off At last the bear wa
slain, and my elephant. rushing turouSly III
made a vicious charge at one OF our party
who was on foot and standing near the carcass
and then striding over the detunct animal, OF
can pummeling and pounding the body, klct
inc it backward and forward between his iol
and hind feet. till it looked like mere bag
fur covered with blood and gravel. HE mi
hout swore as a true Moslem can swear, dU
his haukus into the elephants skull an
hanoed him about the head and eyes with a
his mioht: but it was not till | had nearly 10
lowed nv guns, powdcrfask, bullet-oa9
ramrods. brandy and water, clgares de Hao
nos, and my unlucky attendant to the groun
that our obstinate beast consented to desIst al
behave nationally.
Bear shooting on elephants is never so SD
cessful as on foot. The ceaseIess moVemeh
of the latter animal render the ann OF the !
ner uncertain, and shots enough Tor sma
skirmsh of light infantry may be fired Oefoi
the game is fairly bagged. On foot the sport
man has to mother his resources, Wainhg L
the animal is so close that he can select VT
part for his aim, and generally he VIII succee
in LAYING it low at the first shot. 1hsta'c
have occurred of course, Of gentlemen BEN
severely hurt by bears, bat they are rare al
owing generally to rashness or some a"h wal
blunder which need not have been perpe'rate
A friend of mine, a man Of unusual sTengi
as we'll as a good shot, used to enter peal
caves, creeping on hands and knees al Al
drawing his gun along between his legs.
four or five occasions when | was eye-"lihe
to this useless feat, the tenant, luckily tor Il
visitor, was not at home. A little retlectl'
might teach one the folly as well s''nunilty
thrusting yourself head foremost INTO II
Jaws and claws of bear, in a hole to see VIII
you were doing, and too narrow possibly
use your gun if you could l have been toi
certainly by natives, that the bear will new
attack person in his cave, being only an
ious to get out; and l have seen man
Koln1 ro in with nothinr but club to tul