vin THE LEOPARD 167 



affect an animal by a superior power, and thereby exert a subduing 

 influence ; on the contrary, I believe that the mere fact of this 

 concentration of a fixed stare upon the responding eyes of a savage 

 animal will increase its rage and incite attack. If an animal sees 

 you, and it imagines that it is itself unobserved, it will frequently 

 pass by, or otherwise retreat, as it believes that it is unseen, and 

 therefore it has no immediate dread ; but if it is convinced that 

 you mean mischief, by staring it out of countenance, it will in all 

 probability take the initiative and forestall the anticipated attack. 



A leopard will frequently attack if it is certain that your eyes 

 have met, and it is always advisable, if you are unarmed, to 

 pretend to disregard it, at the same time that you keep an acute 

 look-out lest it should approach you from behind. Wherever I 

 have been in Africa, the natives have declared that they had no 

 fear of a lion, provided that they were not hunting, as it would 

 certainly not attack them unprovoked ; but that a leopard was 

 never to be trusted, especially should it feel that it was discovered. 

 I remember an occasion when the dry grass had been fired, and 

 a native boy, accompanied by his grown-up brother, was busily 

 employed with others in igniting the yellow reeds on the opposite 

 bank of a small stream, which had checked the advance of the 

 approaching flames. Being thirsty and hot, the boy stooped down 

 to drink, and he was immediately seized by a leopard, which sprang 

 from the high grass. His brother, with admirable aim, hurled his 

 spear at the leopard while the boy was in its jaws ; the point 

 separated the vertebrae of the neck, and the fierce brute fell stone 

 dead. The boy was carried to my hut, but there was no chance 

 of recovery, as the fangs had torn open his chest and injured the 

 lungs ; these were exposed to view through the cavity between his 

 ribs. He died during the night. The muscular strength of the 

 jaws and neck is very marked in all the carnivora, and the skull 

 when cleaned is most disappointing, and insignificant if compared 

 with the size of a living head. This is especially the case with 

 leopards, and it is difficult to believe that so small a pair of jaws 

 can inflict a deadly wound almost immediately. 



I have already remarked upon the wide difference in the size of 

 leopards, showing that the largest, which are sometimes known as 

 panthers, are almost equal to a small tigress. Some of this class 

 possess extraordinary power, in carrying a heavy weight within 

 their jaws. At a place called Soonbarro, in the Jubbulpur dis- 

 trict, we were camped upon a large open space entirely devoid of 

 bush. The ground was free from grass, and dusty, therefore the 

 surface would expose every track. Three full-grown sheep were 



