Q 
THER LEOPARD. gI 
upon our shoulders, rubbed his head upon us, and his teeth 
and claws having been filed, there was no danger of tearing our 
clothes. He was kept in the above court for a week or two, 
and evinced no ferocity, except when one of the servants tried 
to pull his food from him ; he then caught the offender by the 
leg, and tore out a small piece of flesh ; but he never seemed 
to owe him any ill-will afterwards. He one morning broke his 
cord, and, the cry being given, the castle gates were shut, and 
a chase commenced. After leading his pursuers two or three 
times round the ramparts, and knocking over a few children by 
bouncing against them, he suffered himself to be caught, and 
led quietly back to his quarters, under one of the guns of the 
fortress. 
“By degrees the fear of him subsided ; and orders having 
been given to the sentinels to prevent his escape through the 
gates, he was left at liberty to go where he pleased ; and a boy 
was appointed to prevent him from intruding into the apart- 
ments of the officers. His keeper, however, generally passed 
his watch in sleeping ; and Sai, as the Panther was called, after 
the royal giver, roamed at large. On one occasion he found 
his servant sitting on the step of the door, upright, but fast 
asleep, when he lifted his paw, gave him a blow on the side of 
his head, which laid him flat, and then stood wagging his tail, 
as if enjoying the mischief he had committed. He became 
exceedingly attached to the Governor, and followed him every- 
where like a dog. His favourite station was at a window of the 
sitting-room, which overlooked the whole town; there, standing 
on his hind-legs, his fore-paws resting on the ledge of the 
window, and his chin laid between them, he appeared to amuse 
himself with what was passing beneath. The children also 
stood with him at the window; and one day, finding his pre- 
sence an incumbrance, and that they could not get their chairs 
close, they used their united efforts to pull him down by the tail, 
