CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 133 



was a playful little creature and made great 

 friends with another pet of that period, a little 

 muntjac, or barking deer. The muntjac is 

 armed with two very long canine teeth and is 

 able, when full-grown, to use them to good 

 purpose. Indeed, on one occasion Colonel 

 Williamson thought he had lost a valuable 

 spaniel (the breed that, more than all others, 

 keeps its scent in the hottest parts of India) 

 that had been ripped by one of these deer. 

 First aid was, however, promptly available and 

 the spaniel was on the warpath again next day. 

 It bit through the rope and tracked its master up 

 for miles, and he heard its voice among the 

 others hunting a shola. The pet muntjac and 

 the leopard were constant playmates, and when 

 tiffin was served the muntjac would alight 

 with one bound on the table and inspect the 

 food, often followed by the leopard. 



The latter, though it had never tasted any- 

 thing stronger than milk and cooked meat, 

 fed by hand, soon displayed its natural in- 

 stincts, and when, of an evening, its owner 

 sat reading, it would stalk him, creeping 

 silently across the floor of the bungalow and 

 suddenly springing on the back of his chair 

 and pretending to bite the top of his head. 

 Pretence was harmless and, as the Colonel 

 says, his skull was hard enough to withstand 

 such pleasantries, but the playfulness of the 



