318 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA. 



through some perverse accident, in the escape without scathe 

 of the object of pursuit, which he would very likely bring in 

 the next day himself to claim the Government reward. He 

 had "stumbled on it" of course, quite by accident, and in 

 self-defence, etc., he was compelled to shoot it ! 



His great quarry was the panther, of which he was known 

 to have killed an almost incredible number in the course of 

 his long life. He lived in a little village about four miles out 

 of the station, just under one of the steep isolated granite hills 

 that rise at intervals from the plain ; and he once showed me 

 a notched stick, on which fifty- two cuts recorded the number 

 of panthers he had killed on this hill alone. The number of 

 these animals in the districts round about Jubbulpur is very 

 great. The low rocky hills referred to, full of hollows and 

 caverns, and overgrown with dense scrubby cover, afford them 

 favourite retreats ; while the numbers of antelope and hog 

 deer, goats, sheep, pariah dogs, and pigs, supply them with 

 abundant food. A large male panther will kill not very 

 heavy cattle ; but as a rule they confine themselves te the 

 smaller animals mentioned. They seldom reside very far 

 from villages, prowling round them at night in search of prey, 

 and retreating to their fastnesses before day-break. Unlike 

 the tiger, they care little for the neighbourhood of water even 

 in the hot weather, drinking only at night, and generally at*a 

 distance from their mid-day retreat. 



There has been much confusion among sportsmen and 

 writers as to the several species of Cat called "Panther," 

 " Leopard," and " Hunting Leopard." Jerdon, in his " Mam- 

 mals of India," has at last correctly distinguished them under 

 the above names, recognising two varieties marked with 

 rosettes (the fulvous ground of the skin showing through the 

 black), instead of plain black spots, which are peculiar to the 



