CATS OF DESERT AND JUNGLE. 



17 



CHAPTER II. 

 CATS OF DESERT AND JUNGLE. 



1. " THE leopard," says Anderssen, " is common through- 

 out Southern Africa generally, but, from its cunning, act- 

 ive nature, and nocturnal habits, is but rarely seen. It is 



The Leopard. 



about two feet seven inches high at the shoulder, and 

 seven feet six inches in extreme length. The chin, neck, 

 breast, and inside of the extremities, are white, the rest 

 tawny or reddish-brown, irregularly marked with spots of 

 black, which vary in number, size, and appearance, at dif- 

 ferent ages and seasons. In its wild state it is exceed- 

 ingly beautiful, its motions in the highest degree easy and 

 graceful, and its agility in bounding among the rocks and 

 woods quite amazing. 



2. " The chief resorts of the leopard are mountainous 

 districts where rock is piled on rock in frightful confu- 

 sion, leaving between them fissures and caverns. It is 

 2 



