IN THE KANAKA JUNGLES 61 



branches to prevent sagging. It was light and 

 handy, and also, given a suitable tree, easy to fix 

 up. It was most useful and comfortable, either to 

 shoot from or to roll over in and get a good sleep, 

 as one was often glad to do after the moon had set. 

 In this instance the hammock was fixed up and I 

 climbed in, expecting to have a long wait, as the 

 jungle was rather open and the place public, and I 

 could see all the passers-by. But quite soon a 

 monkey gave the warning, beginning to swear when 

 he saw his enemy, the panther; several more joined 

 in, and a red squirrel chattered angrily. They all 

 had a great deal to say, so I was on the alert, 

 especially when I heard stealthy movements among 

 the dead leaves. 



This time the goat was not asleep; he sneezed 

 violently several times, stamped his foot as a 

 challenge and ran back to the end of his tether. 

 Some animal made a rush of a few yards and stopped 

 dead then another, and I saw a panther's head 

 appear behind one of the big branches of my tree. 

 One more rush and he was seizing the goat under 

 the throat. The goat was standing, and the panther, 

 almost lying flat, curled and wriggled his body like 

 a snake as he made his attack. Before he had time 

 to get his grip, I shot him in the back, between the 

 two shoulders, and he only gave a gasp or two, 

 opening and shutting his mouth. 



The goat had not fallen, and after gazing at his 

 dead enemy for a few seconds, he made a terrific 

 rush and butted at him with sounding thuds. It 

 was a long lean panther and measured 7 ft. 3 in. 



