23O A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 



they had struggled close to two rocks, which had a rift 

 between them, and Upcher by main force threw the leopard 

 on his back into it — keeping his knee on his chest — his right 

 hand in his mouth, and his left still tight round the animal's 

 throat. At this moment Upcher's boy came up with a 

 double-barrel gun. Upcher told him to put the barrels 

 into the leopard's mouth and fire. The bold little fellow 

 obeyed him, pulled both the triggers and blew the beast's 

 brains out, fortunately missing injuring the hand, which was 

 fearfully mauled by the fangs, every finger being lacerated 

 and the hand bitten through ; the forearm was also bitten in 

 five places, and his left hand and arm were much injured. 

 During this fearful encounter T. was standing on the rock 

 with a double-barrel gun loaded with ball simply looking on. 

 There were also half-a-dozen natives on the rock, but none 

 went to the rescue, and if it had not been for the gallant little 

 boy, Upcher must have been killed. The leopard was a large 

 male, and on examination the ball from Upcher's gun had 

 passed through the lower part of the chest, cutting the tendons 

 of the heart. My gun is very much damaged, I believe, but 

 I have not seen it yet. 



I was out after deer one windy morning near Peer-mund, 

 and was watching a sambur with only one antler. I had sat 

 down on a ledge of rocks and, just as I was moving away, 

 I saw a leopard stealing through the grass about twenty yards 

 below me. I clucked for him to stop, but the wind was too 

 high for him to hear me, and he would have been out of sight 

 in a second or two, so I let drive at him as he was stealing 

 through the grass like a snake ; he was evidently after the 

 stag. As the ball struck him he bounded clean round, when I 

 threw him on his tracks with the second barrel; on going down 



