CLARKE S THEORY. 23 I 



to him I saw he was still breathing, and as he was lying close 

 to the edge of a precipice I did not like to fire another shot 

 for fear of sending him over. I waited for more than a quarter 

 of an hour ; rolled some stones over him, but he did not move 

 or take any notice of my shouting at him. Still, I did not like 

 to go too close to him. At last, as his breathing appeared to 

 improve, I took a shot at him with the carbine at about fifteen 

 yards, and to my astonishment he jumped up and commenced 

 tearing at a tuft of grass with his claws, when I at once settled 

 him with a ball in the brain ; he was an old male with his lower 

 tusks all broken and worn down, but his skin was very glossy 

 and in good order. I could only make him six feet three 

 inches from nose to tip of tail. 



One has disappointments when least expected. One 

 day when out after game I ought to have killed two leopards, 

 but I did not, and this was how it happened. My friend, Tom 

 Clarke, a superstitious fellow, would have laid it at once to my 

 meeting two hares. ' I had had rather a long trudge, and had 

 gone over a deal of ground only seeing these two hares, 

 when I came across a path where a leopard had dragged 

 some animal ; following it up, I found the carcass of a calf 

 fresh killed with only one leg eaten. Shortly afterwards I 

 heard some animals moving in the thick jungle ahead. As 

 I expected from the sound, they were bison. I managed to 

 knock over a big old bull and a cow, and having cut out 

 their tongues and amputated the cow's tail for soup, I reached 

 the tent between eleven and twelve, and began to think that 

 Tom Clarke's theory of the hares was not always correct, 

 and that they at times brought good luck. Whether he or I 

 was right the sequel will show. Francis was convinced that 

 the leopard would not come to the calf after all the firing and 



