58 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



cry is a sort of harsh cough, repeated several times in 

 quick succession, and not unlike the sound made in 

 sawing wood. When disturbed, or in the act of charging, 

 they utter loud, harsh grunts, single or repeated, much 

 resembling those made by a lion, though of less volume. 



I have weighed a good number of low-country leopards 

 immediately after death, and have found that the average 

 weight of a full-grown male, in fair condition, does not 

 much exceed one hundred pounds, although there have 

 been animals which have turned the scale at 120 pounds. 

 Females average from twenty pounds to thirty pounds 

 less, and one full-grown member of the latter sex, in 

 very poor condition, barely drew' fifty-three pounds. 

 I have never weighed any hill leopards, but I should 

 imagine that they would be a good deal heavier, judging 

 from their appearance and measurements. 



Like other cats, they are more easily disabled than 

 any of the herbivora, and their power of recovery, though 

 considerable, is also less. A leopardess shot on the 

 Sabi had an old bullet wound in the shoulder; the skin 

 had healed over it, but underneath the hole was full of 

 pus, and the animal in very low condition. She had 

 been wounded by Ranger Healy about five months 

 previously. 



Sitting up for a leopard over his kill at night is usually 

 disappointing work. Unlike a lion, he never walks 

 boldly up to the spot, but, on the contrary, creeps round 

 in the shadows, closely scrutinizing the ground and 

 investigating the branches of the trees, so that it is very 

 difficult for the sportsman to escape detection, and on 

 the least suspicion of danger the animal will vanish as 

 silently as it came. 



The feline attributes are exceptionally well marked 

 in the leopard. His every movement is stealthy and 



