MY SHIKARI MAULED BY A LEOPARD 



of powder and 16 mould or S.S.G. shot. Since then I 

 invariably used S.S.G. in the left barrel in following 

 up wounded panthers ; at close quarters it is most 

 effective. 



On another occasion, when out beating for hog at Ner 

 (Khandesh), I came suddenly upon a huge panther, as 

 large nearly as a small tiger, which was quietly trotting 

 out towards a small, rocky hill about two hundred yards 

 distant. 



Snatching a Snider carbine from my sowar who was 

 with me, I galloped after the beast and made a lucky shot 

 from the saddle, crippling him behind, on which he laid 

 up in a small bush a short way ahead. 



My men now coming up, I dismounted and we walked 

 up to the bush, when the panther, with one bound, was on 

 the top of my shikari Etoo, then a havildar in the corps, 

 hanging on to his shoulder with his teeth. I could not fire 

 for fear of killing the man, so seizing a spear from my syce, 

 I drove it with both hands through the panther's side, 

 killing him at once. 



Etoo was badly mauled about the arms and shoulder, 

 but being only some sixteen miles from Dhulia, I was able 

 to despatch him the same afternoon to the hospital, where 

 under skilful medical treatment he eventually recovered 

 completely from his wounds. 



This panther measured eight feet an exceptionally 

 big measurement and was very old and light in colour. 



At this same camp I had wounded a panther with a 

 snap shot in the foot, and on following up his tracks, 

 found him crouching in a thick coriander bush in the bed 

 of a river. 



On going round the bush to get a better view, his head 

 and shoulders being partly hidden by some boughs, he 

 suddenly charged out and knocked over my gun-bearer, 

 stripping him of my shikar bag and water-bottle. 



He now got further into the bush, and we were con- 

 sidering how best to attack him, when out he came again 

 with a savage roar, and striking down a man to my right, 

 inflicted two deep wounds in his thigh. So quick had 

 been his movements on both occasions that I had no time 

 to fire. 



75 



