SOME BEARS IN SATARA 115 



walking softly up to the kill below me. I heard 

 some extra loud shouts, so did he, and he turned to 

 listen. I shifted my position quietly as I put up 

 the rifle. In doing so I knocked it against a small 

 branch and made a slight noise, which he heard and 

 looked up instantly. He saw me, started and 

 jumped away and was turning to go off when I 

 pulled the rifle on him and snapped. He disappeared 

 with a big bound over a bush and into thick stuff 

 where I could not see him, but there were sounds 

 of snarling, and I thought I heard him rolling about. 

 He tried to get up and I saw his spots through the 

 leaves and fired at him again. The workpeople 

 and a whole crowd from the bazaar all swarmed up 

 and were running on to the top of him before they 

 knew if he was alive or dead, and one man among 

 them was holding up a tape measure, all ready to 

 measure him on the spot ! It was all I could do to 

 keep them back, as they were making such a din 

 and clamour they could not hear me shouting at 

 them. 



They got to within a yard or two of him while 

 I was unable to see him, and he certainly would 

 have been on them if there had been any life left 

 in him. So I fired another shot at the spot where I 

 thought he lay and jumped down with the rifle 

 ready ; but he was stone dead. 



The man with the yard measure made him out a 

 very fine panther of seven feet ; and I ought to have 

 left it at that, as I could not find the elastic part of 

 his tape, which in my hands could not be made to 

 stretch more than 6 ft. 5 in. 



