CiiAF. I.] LEOPARDS. 141 



Like the other carnivora, they are timid and cowardly 

 in the presence of man, never intruding on him vohni- 

 tarily and making a hasty retreat when approached. 

 Instances have, however, occm:'red of individuals having 

 been slain by them, and hke the tiger, it is behoved, 

 that, having once tasted human blood they acquire an 

 habitual rehsh for it. A peon on night duty at the court- 

 house at Anarajapoora,was some years ago carried off by 

 a leopard from a table in the verandah on which he 

 had laid down his head to sleep. At Batticaloa a 

 " cheetah" in two instances in succession was known to 

 cany off men placed on a stage erected in a tree 

 to drive away elephants from the rice-lands : but such 

 cases are rare, and as compared with their dread of the 

 bear, the natives of Ceylon entertain but shght ap- 

 prehensions of the " cheetah." It is, however, the 

 dread of sportsmen, whose dogs when beating in the 

 jungle are especially exposed to its attacks : and I am 

 aware of one instance in which a party having tied their 

 dogs to the tent-pole for security, and fallen asleep 

 around them, a leopard sprang into the tent and carried 

 off a dog from the midst of its slumbering masters. 



They are strongly attracted by the peculiar odour 

 ^vhich accompanies small-pox. The reluctance of the 

 natives to submit themselves or their chilch-en to vac- 

 cination exposes the island to frightful visitations of 

 this disease ; and in the villages in the interior it is 

 usual on such occasions to erect huts in the jungle 

 to serve as temporary hospitals. Towards these the 

 leopards are certain to be allured ; and the medical 

 officers are obhged to resort to increased precautions in 

 consequence. On one occasion being in the momitauis 

 near Kandy, a messenger despatched to me through the 

 jungle excused his delay by stating that a "cheetah" had 

 seated itself in the only practicable path, and remained 

 quietly hcking its fore paws and rubbing them over its 

 face, till he was forced to drive it, with stones, into the 

 forest. 



