It  was  some  months  after  the  event  above  narrated,
that  I  found  myself  brought  into  active  service  and
actual  collision  against  bruin  and  his  firm.
A  Cingalese  one  day  came  to  the  bungalow  with  a
most  lamentable  tale  about  a  bear  having  invaded  the
generally  peaceful  neighbourhood  of  his  habitation,
where  it  had  devoured  his  tortoiseshell  comb  (an
ornament  which  all  the  natives,  male  and  female,  use
to  keep  up  their  "  back  hair,"  and  on  which  they  set
a  high  value),  rooted  up  all  his  betel-nut,  and  finished
by  gobbling  down  his  remaining  stock  of  rice  and  his
youngest  boy.
Having  at  times  experienced  the  hospitality  of  the
man  when  on  a  shooting  excursion  (and,  moreover,
having  a  huge  desire  to  send  home  a  bear-skin  rug
for  the  very  prettiest  and  smallest  foot  in  creation  to
pillow  itself  upon),  I  resolved  to  start  next  morning
by  daylight,  and  encounter  the  embrace  of  the  ruffian,
or  as  domestic  tragedy  heroes  say,  "  to  perish  in  the
attempt/'

And  now,  courageous  reader,  I  shall  depend  on
your  company  and  assistance,  and  if  you  see  me  folded
in  the  animal's  embrace,  do  not  be  in  a  hurry : —


JAUNTS  IN  THE  JUNGLE.  29

come  close  up  to  him — quietly  insinuate  the  muzzle
of  your  gun  into  his  ear,  or  as  near  it  as  you  like  to
advance,  and  then  pull  steadily.
You  may  depend  on  my  doing  the  same  good  office
for  yourself,  should  he  show  a  partiality  for  you.
Let  me  give  you  another  hint.
As  soon  as  he  shows  fight,  and  before  he  attempts
to  hug  you,  he  will  get  on  his  hind  legs,  and  looking
you  straight  in  the  face,  begin  to  grin  and  dance  in
the  most  grotesque  manner  imaginable.
