88 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



had a most exciting time, but they were at him like ants. This 

 was on the opposite side of the hedge to McG. and myself. B. 

 and J. were the men that side, and the former, on hearing the 

 roar and seeing the Leopard come out, stalked up, ready to 

 bag him as soon as the villagers had done with him. This 

 soon happened. ' Spots,' finding things too warm, charged out 

 of the melee, and it so happened straight at B., who promptly 

 turned and fled. He was about six feet two inches, and legs in 

 proportion, and through a gap in the hedge I saw first B. 

 flying hard, long legs at their full stride, and the Leopard a 

 good second, with ears back and tail curved. It looked such 

 a close thing for first place that I thought I had better try and 

 handicap ' Spots,' so had a snap shot at him as he flew by. I 

 did not hit him. B. had fled to where J. was ensconced behind 

 a small tree, and when he got there turned at bay and fired 

 with his Snider-carbine in the Leopard's face. He missed 

 him, but it apparently had the effect of turning the Leopard 

 off, and he flew by B. and J. behind their tree. 



"The moment B. had fired, he turned tc J and implored to 

 be informed as to the mechanism of his intricate weapon, the 

 Snider-carbine. Poor J., with 'how do you open this?' dinned 

 into his ears, said he could have almost kicked the Leopard 

 as it went by, but was so put off by B. that he missed. The 

 Leopard then disappeared, and we accordingly collected the 

 villagers and followed the tracks, which, thanks to open ground 

 and mud, we were able to do. We tracked him for two fields, 

 a considerable distance from the scene of action; and the 

 tracks led into a small hedge of growing bush, which got 

 thicker and thicker till it joined two other hedges and formed 

 a small clump of bush at the junction. I could plainly smell 

 him, and the tracks evidently did not lead out. This time the 

 beaters thought they would like a gun with them, and accord- 

 ingly I went with them. After scrutiny, we decided 'Spots' 



