LEOPARDS AND RHINOS 97 
with the head. A crash in the bushes at one side 
led me in a hurry in that direction and a little later I 
saw my pig’s head in the mouth of a hyena travelling 
up the slope of a ridge out of range. That meant 
that my wart hog specimen was lost, and, having 
got no ostriches, I felt it was a pretty poor day. 
The sun was setting, and with little to console us 
the pony boy and I started for camp. As we came 
near to the place where I had shot the diseased hyena 
in the morning, it occurred to me that perhaps there 
might be another hyena about the carcass, and feeling 
a bit “sore” at the tribe for stealing my wart hog, I 
thought I might pay off the score by getting a good 
specimen of a hyena for the collections. The pony 
boy led me to the spot, but the dead hyena was no- 
where in sight. There was the blood where he had 
fallen, and in the dusk we could make out a trail in 
the sand where he had been dragged away. 
Advancing a few steps, a slight sound attracted my 
attention, and glancing to one side I got a glimpse of 
a shadowy form going behind a bush. I then did a 
very foolish thing. Without a sight of what I was 
shooting at, I shot hastily into the bush. The snarl 
of a leopard told me what kind of a customer I was 
taking chances with. A leopard is a cat and has all 
the qualities that gave rise to the “‘nine lives” legend. 
To kill him you have got to kill him clear to the tip of 
his tail. Added to that, a leopard, unlike a lion, is 
vindictive. A wounded leopard will fight to a finish 
practically every time, no matter how many chances 
it has to escape. Once aroused, its determination is 
