via THE LEOPARD 163 



wrap the wound with linen rag soaked in the same solution, and 

 keep it continually wetted. 



The daring of a leopard during night is extraordinary. I have 

 frequently during wet weather discovered in the early morning a 

 regular beaten track in the soft earth, where a leopard has been 

 prowling round and round a cattle-shed containing a herd of 

 animals, vainly seeking for an entrance. 



At one time my own blacksmith had a nocturnal adventure 

 with a leopard which afforded a striking example of audacity. A 

 native cow had a calf; this being her first-born, the mother was 

 exceedingly vicious, and it was unsafe for a stranger to approach 

 her, especially as her horns were unusually long, and pointed. 

 The cattle-shed was scarped out of the hillside, and was within a 

 few feet of the blacksmith's house. The roof was thatched. 

 During the night, a leopard, which smelt the presence of the cow 

 and calf, mounted the roof of the shed and proceeded to force an 

 entrance by scratching through the thatch. The cow at the same 

 time had detected the presence of the leopard, and, ever mindful 

 of her calf, she stood ready to receive the intruder, with her sharp 

 horns prepared for its appearance. It is supposed that upon the 

 leopard's descent it was at once pinned to the ground, before it had 

 time to make its spring. 



The noise of a tremendous struggle aroused the blacksmith, 

 who, with a lantern in his hand, opened the cattle-shed door and 

 discovered the cow in a frantic stage of rage, butting and tossing 

 some large object to and fro, which evidently had lost all power of 

 resistance. This was the leopard in the last gasp, having been 

 run through the body by the ready horns of the courageous mother, 

 whose little calf was nestled in a corner, unmindful of the maternal 

 struggle. 



No sooner had the blacksmith appeared upon the scene, than 

 the character of the conflict changed, and the cow, regarding him 

 in the light of a fresh enemy, left the crumpled body of her 

 antagonist and charged straight at her proprietor, who dropped his 

 lantern and flew to the arms of his wife, whom he had left in bed. 

 After some delay, during which the courage of all parties was re- 

 stored, excepting that of the crippled leopard, the cow was appeased, 

 and a shot from a pistol through the head of the enemy closed the 

 episode. 



Every resident in India is aware of the depredations committed 

 by this pestilent class of the carnivora. Lions and tigers may be 

 dangerous in the jungles in every country which they inhabit, but 

 they never invade the actual premises ; it is exactly there where 



