I smoked a cigar, while my wife, by the aid of my glasses, examined every nook and corner of the high mountain which towered above us. All of a sudden she exclaimed, ‘I see a bear!’ and there, far up on the hill-path, a bear and her cub were plainly seen. It was a pretty picture, for the mother was playing with her child, rolling it over and running away, then coming back and falling down, while the little cub jumped over her. Well, I did not go after them. Perhaps the milk punch and the cheese prevented me; anyway, I left them alone, but a brother officer, arriving soon after, encamped not far from us, and he went and shot the cub and then the mother, but nearly lost his life in doing so, for the old bear was so furious when her cub was killed that she charged my friend at a moment when his rifle was not loaded. Fortunately for him, however, another sportsman came up to the rescue, and Bruin received a bullet which finished her. There were several bears seen during our halt at this charming camping-ground. I went out several times to shoot, but was not successful. My shikarrie generally got me out of bed about three in the morning, and we sallied forth by the light of the moon, and climbed up one of those steep mountains on which my wife had spied the mother and child. The bears came down during the night from their haunts in the mountains to feed on the ripe mulberries in the valley. My shikarrie’s plan was to take me up the mountain before dawn, and to post me behind a rock where the bears were likely to pass, as they always returned up the mountain from the valley when the day broke. I may safely say that, on these occasions, I never saw a bear. A strong smell of a menagerie was sometimes perceptible, and the broken branch of a mulberry-tree would give evidence that Bruin had been there; but I was never fortunate enough to get a shot at one. I think the fur of the American bears finer than that of the Cashmerian ones. CHAPTER XII. THE RESIDENT OF CASHMERE. GOND--OFFICER OF THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS--A STATE PRISONER--OUR GASCON CAPTAIN--SILVER TAIL--M’KAY ON EASTERN MOUNTAIN SCENERY--THE WALLOOR LAKE--PALHALLAN--OUR CHOKEDAR--TAKEN FOR WANDERING JUGGLERS--VALE OF GULMURG--OUR CAMPING GROUND--A FAVOURITE EXCURSION--HOSPITALITY OF THE RESIDENT OF CASHMERE--POLLY THE PUG--CALLING THE MARES HOME--HINDOOS AND ANIMAL SUFFERING--EFFECTS OF CAMPAIGNING ON SERVANTS. CHAPTER XII.