HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



own way. I had a long morning, but made no bag of any 

 sort, and on my return to camp was horrified to find de 

 Winton there, lying down, badly mauled about the arm 

 and shoulder by a leopard. It seems that he and his 

 tracker (a first-rate and well-known man named Sinno 

 Appoo) had suddenly met with a leopard in the jungle, 

 and de Winton fired at it with a .500 express, hitting 

 it hard but failing to stop it, and it disappeared in the 

 cover. 



" De Winton started to follow it up, but the tracker 

 refused to come, saying that the jungle was too thick, 

 so de Winton told him to stay where he was, and went on 

 alone. He had only proceeded a short distance when he 

 heard terrified yells from the tracker, and, hurrying back, 

 found poor Sinno Appoo on the ground in the clutches 

 of the leopard, which had evidently made a bit of detour 

 and attacked the man at once. The jungle was so thick 

 that de Winton had to get close up before he dare think of 

 firing at the leopard, but the moment it saw him it sprang 

 straight at him. He managed to give it both barrels as it 

 came, mortally wounding it as it turned out, but failing to 

 stop it at the time. De Winton fended it off" with his arm, 

 which it tore and bit from hand to shoulder, whilst a plucky 

 cooly who was with them was all the while belabouring it 

 with a small axe. 



" Luckily for both, the animal was so badly wounded 

 that it very soon collapsed and died, and the wounded men 

 managed to make their way back to camp. The tracker 

 did not appear to be particularly badly hurt, having been 

 bitten through the thigh and not losing much blood. I at 

 once grasped that it might be a matter of life and death 

 to get de Winton into a doctor's hands, as we were 30 

 miles from Koslande, the nearest dispensary. The time 



2,66 



