168 THE BLACK LEOPARD.’ 
ground !”—(digs assagy deep into the ground several times)—“Ah, show your teeth, they 
will make me a necklace, and we will roast your heart!” 
Suddenly, in the middle of their choice address, the Leopard would spring up, rush at 
the stakes, and away would fly all the boasting Kaffir warriors. 
It was intended to have kept this animal, and shipped it in the bay for Cape Town, 
but during the second night it nearly escaped ; and as some days would elapse before the 
regular cage could be made, it was found expedient to shoot it. It was a fine animal, in 
superb condition, and had committed an infinity of mischief in the neighbourhood. 
I ASSISTED an old Kaffir in building a cage near the Umlass river soon after this, and 
one of the largest Leopards I ever saw was captured in a few days. This Leopard was caged 
and sent down to Natal, where it brought a good price. 
Owing to the stealthy and watchful habits of this creature, it is not often seen, and 
although the spoor may show that Leopards are plentiful in a particular locality, it does 
not follow that the sportsman will obtain a shot at once. The marks of claws on the 
stems of trees, will frequently be seen in those parts of the bush which the Leopard 
frequents. 
If the hunter expects an encounter with a Leopard, it is a very useful precaution to 
bind some leather and woollen stuff round the left hand and arm, so that if an accident 
should happen, and the Leopard come to close quarters where the gun could not be used, 
this shield would serve to protect the face or body, and a knife or revolver might then be 
used with greater chance of success than when the independent arm was being lacerated 
by the jaws of the monster. 
Numberless instances are on record which prove the ferocity of the Cape Leopard, 
and those who purpose a campaign against Fer of this description, would do well to 
remember that precaution is no indication of an absence of courage, for it frequently 
happens that men whose intellects are the densest are incapable of seeing danger, blunder 
into peril, and by great good luck blunder out again. 
I once caught a man smoking his pipe on the front of a waggon which was loaded 
with some hundreds of pounds of powder. On another occasion a gunner of the artillery 
carried a burning portfire amongst two dozen or so of loaded shells, whilst he was looking 
for the nipper with which to cut off the end. And I also knew a man who went into a 
bush to attack a wounded Leopard with an old sword, and who was disabled for life in 
consequence of his temerity. 
Now, none of these individuals ought to be called wonderfully brave for their pro- 
ceedings, they were simply so thick-headed that they did not know how much risk they 
ran. A Dutch Boer who lived over the Draakens Berg mountains, and who planned an 
attack upon an old man-eater Lon, which he followed on foot into a dense kloof, and which 
he there shot dead, deserved praise for his courage, as he must have been well aware of 
all the risks of the affair, and made his arrangements accordingly. In leopard, lion, 
elephant, and buflalo shooting, the accidents usually happen to those who pretend to 
despise, and who therefore do not take ordinary precautions. 
> 
The habits of the Indian Leopard are almost identical with those of its African 
relative. Equally cautious when caution is necessary, and equally bold when audacity 
is needed; the animal achieves exploits of a sinular nature to those which have been 
narrated of the African Leopard. The following anecdote is a sample of the mixed 
cunning and insolence of this creature. 
An ox had been killed, and the joints were hung up in a hut, which was close to a 
spot where a sentry was posted. In the evening the sentry gave an alarm that some 
large animal had entered the hut. A light was procured and a number of people searched 
the several rooms of which the hut w as composed, without discovering the cause of the 
