THE HIGHER NARBADA. 331 



the next day himself to claim the (Government reward. 

 He had " stumbled on it," of course, (juite by accident, 

 and in self-defence, etc., he was compelled to slioot it ! 



His great quarry was the panther, of which he was 

 known to have killed an almost incredible number in the 

 course of his long life. He lived in a little village about 

 four miles out of the station, just under one of the steep 

 isolated granite hills that rise at intervals from the 

 plain ; and he once showed me a notched stick, on 

 which fifty -two cuts recorded the number of panthers 

 he had killed on this hill alone. The number of these 

 animals in the districts round about Jubbulpiir is very 

 great. The low rocky hills referred to, full of hollows 

 and caverns, and overgrown with dense scrubby cover, 

 afi"ord them favourite retreats ; while the numbers of 

 antelope and hog deer, goats, sheep, pariah dogs, and 

 pigs, supply them with abundant food. A large male 

 panther will kill not very heavy cattle ; but as a rule 

 they confine themselves to the smaller animals men- 

 tioned. They seldom reside very far from villages, 

 prowling round them at night in search of prey, and 

 retreating to their fastnesses before daybreak. Unlike 

 the tiger, they care little for the neighbourhood of water 

 even in the hot weather, drinking only at night, and 

 generally at a distance from their midday retreat. 



There has been much confusion among sportsmen and 

 writers as to the several species of Cat called "Panther," 

 "Leopard," and "Hunting Leopard." Jerdou, in his 

 *' Mammals of India," has at last correctly distiDguished 

 them under the above names, recognising two varieties 

 marked with rosettes (the fulvous ground of the skin 

 showing through the black), instead of plain black spots, 

 which are peculiar to the Hunting Leopard (F. Julxila), 

 He calls both F. Fardus, considering them only as 



