LEOPARDS AND CHEETAHS 



but to our dismay Asgar soon disappeared behind a small 

 hill, over which the leopards had sped. 



Running along as rapidly as possible, we came upon 

 a herd of topi, which had been startled by the sound of the 

 galloping horse, and, in their bewilderment, ran almost 

 right into us in their mad effort to escape. Believing that 

 a shot would not interfere with the pursuit of the leopard, 

 I fired at the finest bull in the herd, which, while galloping 

 at top speed, was instantly killed with a shot in his neck, 

 and rolled over in a heap, turning a complete somersault 

 as he fell. Leaving a few men to take care of the topi, we 

 ran on as hard as we could. 



Soon we reached the crest of the little hill, when, to 

 our amazement, we saw Asgar in the saddle facing us, and 

 brandishing his whip in the air. We fortunately took this 

 to mean that he had the leopard already at bay somewhere 

 nearby, so we ran down the slope of the hill as fast as pos- 

 sible. When we came within speaking distance, Asgar 

 shouted to us that the cheetah was hiding in a hole, made 

 by a wart hog, only some twenty yards away from the 

 horse; although we looked in the direction to which he 

 pointed, it was impossible for us to detect any animal there 

 at all. With camera and gun in either hand, I approached 

 within thirty yards of the place, where the leopard hid, 

 and yet it was impossible to see anything but a little mound 

 of earth dug out by the pig. 



I then looked through my field glasses and discovered 

 the two eyes of the leopard, just glaring at us from the top 

 of the hole. As it was impossible to take any photograph 

 of this, I aimed for the top of his head, which I missed 

 by the fraction of an inch. The next moment the leopard 



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