28 MY SOMALI BOOK 



Elmi suddenly stopped, exclaiming " Jippat!^'' I could 

 not think what on earth he meant until he used the 

 Somali word, " sliabel,'''' when I realised that his first 

 effort was intended for " leopard." I spotted the 

 beast just too late as it moved away among the bushes. 

 Running to cut it off I saw, as I concluded, the same 

 animal stand looking back eighty to one hundred yards 

 away. I took a steady kneeling shot and heard the 

 bullet tell, but apparently it sprang away, going as if 

 unhurt, though in no great hurry. I followed, thinking 

 its gait was not quite like that of an ordinary leopard, 

 but I could not get a full view, and it quickly dis- 

 appeared. Just then a shout came from behind : 

 " margaya ! " (dead !). Then it dawned on me that 

 there had been two beasts, and I turned back to find 

 I had bagged, not an ordinary leopard, but a small 

 chita about three-quarters grown. 



Owing to its standing higher than a leopard of the 

 same age, and being partially concealed by grass, it 

 had seemed bigger, while the greyish ground-colour 

 of the pretty skin had not yet attained the reddish 

 tinge of the adult chita. The other, which Elmi had 

 seen first, must have been the mother. It was bad 

 luck my not having seen her in time to appreciate the 

 situation. 



There is little real likeness between chita and 

 leopard, and they should never be confused if seen 

 clearly. The small round head ; the longer limbs ; 

 the tucked-up appearance of the hind-quarters, built 

 for speed ; the only partially retractile claws ; absence 

 of a rosette pattern in the arrangement of the spots ; 

 the short mane ; these comprise the principal points 



