SURPRISED BY A PANTHER. 105 



lain there, when, still half asleep, I heard a strong rustl- 

 ing among the dry leaves which surrounded me, and felt 

 that they were being thrown over me, so that I was quite 

 covered in a few minutes. Surprise at first, and then 

 an instinct of danger, which I did not quite understand, 

 kept me motionless, awaiting the result : before I had 

 formed any resolution, I heard something moving stealth- 

 ily away, and cautiously raising my head, saw a panther 

 disappear in the thicket. My first act was to jump up 

 and look to my priming, and as I saw nothing more of the 

 beast, though I was sure that it would return, I resolved 

 to oppose cunning to cunning. A piece of a broken 

 bough lay near ; I dragged it to the spot, and covered it 

 carefully with dried leaves, then slinging my rifle on my 

 back, I mounted a neighboring oak, to await in patience, 

 but with a beating heart, the conclusion of the adven- 

 ture, as the panther might return at any moment. I 

 may have sat for rather more than half an hour, my 

 eyes steadfastly fixed on the place where the panther 

 had vanished, when the bough began to move, and the 

 female panther (for a female it turned out to be) reap- 

 peared with two cubs, intending, no doubt, that I should 

 serve as supper for the family. This time she had reck- 

 oned without her host. I remained silent and motion- 

 less in the tree, watching every movement and keeping 

 the rifle in readiness. She crept stealthily to within 

 fifteen paces of the spot where she had left me covered 

 up with leaves, and crouched down with her green eyes 

 glaring upon the log ; the next instant she made a spring, 

 struck the claws of both her fore-feet into it, and buried 

 her sharp fangs deep into the rotten wood. When she 



