THE FIRST PANTHER 3 



triumph that the first panther gave me when I 

 began to go out altogether on my own account. 

 And another thing was, I dare say, that he took so 

 much getting. 



We were stationed in a much cultivated part of 

 the Deccan, with no jungle anywhere round worth 

 speaking of. A poor place for big or small game. 



A village man, who called himself a shikari, came 

 in one day in May with the news that a panther had 

 been doing much damage among the villagers* flocks, 

 and would I go out and shoot him. There had been a 

 goat killed that morning, and I must go out at once. 

 I asked him where the place was and how far away. 



" Near," he said. 



" Three miles, six miles? " 



It was farther than that. I brought the map and 

 looked it up, and suggested thirty miles. (It was 

 nearer forty I found afterwards.) He thought it 

 might be, but it was still " near/' 



" You must have done very quick time to come 

 in thirty miles by midday, after finding the dead 

 goat." 



He had to admit the goat was killed the day 

 before, but was very insistent about the necessity 

 of coming out soon ; so I settled to go, told him to 

 go back again and make arrangements, ordered a 

 cart to send out the small tent and a servant, and 

 went out myself in a hired tonga with two little 

 ponies. 



It was in the middle of the hot weather and we 

 did not travel very fast. After about thirty miles 

 the tonga man said that he had orders to turn off 



