A Panther in the Camp 73 



scatter at once in the grass; but she quickly falls down 

 and dies almost at our feet. There is a warm dis- 

 cussion on the conditions of the bet, Msiambiri, who 

 is always having his little joke, now pretending that 

 he bet merely that the animal would not go so far 

 as the other. Don't let us waste time in discussing : 

 let us again take measurements and return to camp ! 

 The meat is not got in before half-past ten o'clock 

 in the evening. 



It is here that the panther l enters on the scene 

 again. About half-past eleven o'clock, when every- 

 body is asleep, she jumps on to the stockade and 

 misses her footing ; falling on to a thatched shelter, 

 upon which she slips and to which she tries to cling, 

 she topples over with the roof into the midst of the 

 camp. This noise awakens everybody with a start, 

 and seeing the animal in the light of the camp- 

 fires my men think they are attacked, and utter 

 various cries. But the apparition was only like 

 that of a lightning flash ; the panther springs on to 

 the thatch and retraces her steps before we know 

 what the matter is. I go to bed again. The recep- 

 tion she received probably frightened her sufficiently 

 to prevent her returning at least this evening. 



Towards morning she is heard roaring. Judging 

 from her footprints on the moist earth, which make 

 one almost think that twenty-five panthers have been 

 there, she must have prowled the whole night in the 

 neighbourhood. She is going to be our companion 



1 Panther, according to Cuvier ; leopard, according to Linnaeus. 

 It is the same animal. See Mes Grandes Chasses, pp. 94, 95, and 96. 



