Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1891-06-27 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

NIGHT WITH BEARS.  The following account of a night's bear-shooting In the Northern Province of Ceylon is given by a contributor to Land and Water :—lt was towards the end of September, 188—, that we pitched our camp in a little hamlet a few miles from the coast, and among the few Tamil villagers who inhabited it we found a man who said he could take us to a grand place for bears. We started about 2 p.m., accompanied by our two "trackers," E—'s "boy" or servant, a very smart young Malay fellow, who had begged to be allowed to come, and our Tamil guide. After an hour and a-hail's riding we came to the point where we were to halt. Innumerable tracks denoted the presence of hears and leopards, and our guide skewed us several holes in the plain where bears had been digging for water. Two water-holes which the animals appeared to visit most were pitched upon for our night's vigil, and an ambush prepared at each. About 8.30 p. in., when the moon began to shew signs of rising, we started for our watch. E-- was accompanied by his "boy," the young Malay, and one of our trackers, and the other tracker and the Tamil guide followed me. At about 1 a.m. I heard E—'s "Express" ring out with both barrels in rapid succession; then a pause of perhaps a minute, followed by two more shots from his second gun—as I knew by the report—and all was still. During the night I shot two bears that came to my water-hole, the second proving a very fine specimen of the Ceylon bear, weighing fully 2001 b. E-- and his party were seen coming along the plain, and we went to hear how they had fared during the night. On my asking, E-said, "Well, I've had rather a lively time; have had a mill with a bear, and he has got off, after ruining my coat." He then shewed me the left sleeve of his ulster, which had a great strip torn out from the shoulder downwards. The particulars of his adventure were these: Finding it very chilly about midnight, E— had put on his ulster, and some little time after doing so a bear appeared near the water-hole, having come, apparently, from out of some bushes which were close by. E-- fired his "Express," and the result was that the bear charged straight for the pit. E--'s second barrel failed to stop him, and he knocked E-- down, who was kneeling in the pit, got right across his body, and seized him by the left arm. Fortunately for E—, the bear, instead of getting hold of the flesh, seized the thick cloth of the sleeve of his coat,but from the position in which he was •thrown E— could not get at his hunting-knife, which was in his belt on the left side. The tracker cleared out of the pit, rendering no assistance at all, but the Malay lad acted splendidly. He had taken with him a thick stick, and pluckily keeping his ground he belaboured the bear soundly over the head with it. His pluck and presence of mind saved his master's life, most likely—at any rate, prevented a fearful mauling, for the bear lost heart, and after tearing the sleeve down, let go and bolted out of the pit. We set to work and skinned my two bears, and congratulated ourselves on leiving had a good night's sport.  An order to mobilise the Fleet was issued by telegraph from the Admiralty on Saturday, but the shiis are not to be commissioned until the Me mat., the interval being taken up in adjusting thh vacancies in various ratings on the ships that are temporarily to hoist the pennant. The tluaras wno were sent to isermuua more than a year ago, as a punishment for insubordination, are to be brought home in six or eight weeks. The military authorities think that they have been sufficiently punished, and in a few weeks they will be once more in England. Their station is first to be at Pirbright, and after that they will occupy the barracks at the Tower. A shocking ease of suicide occurred at Brighton on Sunday night. A man named Edward Mann, living at Regent's-hill, was discovered by his landlady lying on his back in bed with his left arm banging over the edge and a basin full of blood on the floor. The arm had been cut with a razor In the fleshy part above the elbow. His child I slept by his side. The wife was in London. The I lama wired about midnight.