154 REMINISCENCES OF PIG-STICKING. 



hand, a leopard will never willingly and knowingly 

 tackle an old boar, at least not to make a meal off, and 

 if he does so it is by accident more than anything else. 

 Crouched behind some cover or in a hollow pardus 

 finds his mistake only when it is too late and the fatal 

 spring has been made. A deadly fight ensues, and>in nine 

 cases out of ten, piggy will come off victorious, and very 

 often leave his antagonist dead in the field. There are 

 several instances of multilated bodies of leopards having 

 been found, the rips and wounds showing plainly the 

 work of a boar. But for, perhaps, one leopard killed by 

 an old boar, there are five hundred sows and young pigs 

 killed by Spots. I will give an instance of how this big 

 cat goes about his work, as I was an eye-witness to the 

 scene. 



It was sometime in April, 1882, when on a very sultry 

 afternoon news was brought of a leopard having been 

 seen on the edge of the patiale. Taking my gun 

 and a couple of peons I went to see if I could not get 

 a shot. When I got to the place the leopard had 

 vanished, and after waiting for a short time I begun to 

 think that the whole thing was a hoax. 1 had taken 

 my position behind a big paccoor tree (Ficus religiosa) 

 and was getting tired of waiting, when my attention 

 was called to the further end of the patiale. Sure 

 enough there was the leopard: he had glided down from 

 the patiale and was lying flat along the ground. The 

 distance being too far for a safe shot, I waited anxiously 

 to see what was going to happen next. Coming back 



