160 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



his propensity for a stand-up fight, with results which we never 

 could discover ; probably the leopard had been glad to retire 

 honourably from the uncertain conflict. This grand dog was 

 ultimately killed in a fight with an immense boar, and his name 

 will reappear in connection with the sambur deer, misnamed the 

 " elk," throughout Ceylon. 



It is most discouraging to lose good dogs through the stealthy 

 attacks of leopards, and in looking back to the list of casualties 

 among the jwxck when I kept hounds in Ceylon it is distressing to 

 see the number which were taken by these unsparing animals. If 

 a hound is lost in the jungle, it will certainly sit down and howl, 

 thereby exhibiting considerable intelligence, as it is, in fact, 

 crying for assistance ; but such a cry will attract the ever-wary 

 leopard, who will probably approach by leaping from tree to tree, 

 and i>ounce upon the unfortunate dog before it is aware of the 

 impending danger. The hound that would have offered a stout 

 resistance if boldly attacked face to face, has no more chance than 

 an Irish landlord when shot at by an assassin secreted behind a 

 wall by the roadside. 



This noiseless approach may be imagined from an incident 

 which occurred to me in Abyssinia, when watching a pool by 

 moonlight, in a deep bend of the river Royan during the dry season ; 

 all streams had evaporated, excepting an occasional deep hole in a 

 sudden curve of the exhausted bed. Hours had been passed, but 

 nothing larger than antelopes had appeared. We were sitting 

 beneath a very large tree completely denuded of leaves, and the 

 moon was shining brightly, producing a sharp outline of every 

 lx)ugh. Suddenly my wife pulled my sleeve and directed my 

 attention to a large animal crouched upon the branches exactly 

 above us. I might have taken a splendid shot, but I at first 

 imagined it to be a dog-faced baboon (Cynocephalus) that had been 

 asleep upon the tree. I stood erect to obtain a clearer view, and 

 at once the object sprang to the ground within a few feet of us and 

 Ixiunded into the jungle. This was a leopard, which had probably 

 reached the tree by means of some neighbouring branch, and so 

 noiselessly that we had not discovered its presence. The animal 

 had evidently winded us, and determined to reconnoitre our 

 position. 



In every country the natives are unanimous in declaring that 

 the leopard is more dangerous than the lion or tiger, and I quite 

 agree in their theory that when any dangerous animal is met with, 

 the traveller should endeavour to avoid its direct gaze. It is an 

 error to suppose that the steady look from the human eye will 



