522 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



metis of birds and animals. One evening, while hunting elephants, 

 he came to a small lake, on the borders of which he saw a solitary 

 buffalo ; the grass being very high, stalking was easy, and in a 

 stealthy manner, followed by his guide, he came so nearthe buf- 

 falo that he was upon the point of firing, when the guide arrested 

 his arm with a nervous " Sh-h-h !" and there fell on his ear a 

 \w, purring sound, barely noticeable above the rustling grasses. 



" Njego, master," said the guide (a leopard.) 



The quick and experienced ear of the guide lad detected its 

 near presence by the purring noise, something like that made by 

 a cat, though louder. 



Du Chaillu knew that the leopard hunts only at night and that 

 they do not stir about during daylight except when driven by 

 hunger, when they are very dangerous and will not hesitate to 

 ittack men. Cautiously the two moved along, each moment 

 expecting the still hidden animal to spring upon them, until at 

 length the beautiful but ferocious beast was observed gazing so 

 latently at the buffalo that it had not noticed the enemy 

 approaching from behind. It was a very large female, with a 

 half-grown cub beside her, capable of doing much mischief. 

 Almost at the same moment that the two men saw her she turned 

 her fiery eyes toward them, and lashing the ground with her tail, 

 was upon the point of springing at them when a bullet from 

 Du Chaillu's large rifle crashed into her brain and she rolled over 

 dead. The guide made an equally true shot at the cub, which 

 also dropped and instantly died. 



These leopards, royal game indeed, became the subject of a 

 protracted contention among Du Chaillu's men, all of whom were 

 anxious to possess the tip of the tail, which they regarded as 

 being a powerful charm. The brain was also a portion which they 

 much desired, for similar purposes. A few days later another, 

 yet larger, leopard was killed near the same place, just as it was 

 in the act of springing upon Aboko, the guide referred to. His 

 escape was a narrow one. 



During his encampment at Sangatanga, Du Chaillu and his 

 killed such an enormous amount of game that the entire 



