94 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



straight up at the meat. During these operations he 

 maintained complete silence. 



In view of the alertness and sagacity displayed by the 

 hyaena in the not always easy task of seeking his daily 

 bread, as well as the extraordinary mixture of caution 

 and boldness which he often displays, it is no wonder 

 that the leopard is driven to place the remains of his meal 

 in the safety of a tree when temporary absence becomes 

 necessary. That even this stratagem may occasionally 

 fail where due care has not been exercised, the following 

 incident tends to indicate. 



As read by the bush signs on the morning following a 

 heavy storm of rain, what occurred was as follows : A 

 leopard had hauled a portion of an impala up a tree, and, 

 as usual, had laid it in the fork formed by one of the 

 branches with the trunk, at a safe distance from the ground. 

 He had then descended and gone to the river, a mile or so 

 away. Seizing the opportunity, a watchful hyaena, 

 which doubtless had been hungrily eyeing him at his 

 meal, came to the foot of the tree and gazed longingly at 

 the delicacies there stowed beyond his reach. Now 

 although the height at which the meat had been placed 

 was prohibitive, the tree itself was too small and light 

 for its purpose, while the branches above, being of incon- 

 siderable size, must not only have retained the carcass 

 with difficulty, but swayed dangerously with each gust 

 of wind. The hyaena had run round and round, leaping 

 against the trunk, and at last, either in baffled rage or 

 with surprising astuteness, had commenced to gnaw 

 through it. The powerful jaws had bitten out and torn 

 away a great deal of the wood, when either the shaking 

 below, or some more than usually severe blast above, or 

 both combined, had at last detached the meat from its 

 position, so that it fell to the ground, to be immediately 



