TIGERS, LEOPARDS, AND BEARS 273 



crossing the road before me, occasionally alone, more 

 often two together. They much infest the lower ranges 

 of the Himalaya. They do not, like the tigers, confine 

 themselves to the valleys ; they wander up the mountains 

 as high as the forests extend. Though far inferior in 

 size and strength to the tiger, the leopard excels the 

 tiger in agility and grace of movement. Of the agility 

 of the leopard I once saw a striking instance. It was 

 at Mussoorie. I was walking one afternoon along a 

 road that led round a thickly wooded hill. Suddenly 

 a deer leaped out of the wood, crossed the road, and 

 descended the hill on the other side. I was a little 

 surprised, as deer were rarely seen so near the station. 

 Almost immediately after I heard a noise in the trees 

 above. The sound came from behind me. I turned, 

 and saw a leopard spring out of the wood. It gave one 

 leap on to the road, then bounded over the railing, and 

 went headlong down the mountain-side, and at racing 

 speed. 



Now the mountain there was extremely steep, as steep, 

 indeed, as it could be for trees to grow on it. A man 

 could not have safely descended it save on hands and 

 knees, and clinging to the grass and underwood ; and 

 yet the leopard, far heavier, tore down at full gallop. 

 Nothing but the most extreme agility could have pre- 

 vented him from rolling over and over to the bottom, 

 or being dashed against the trees. 



Leopards when young can be tamed ; but as they 



grow older they are apt to become dangerous. I have 



heard of them being kept as pets. One was so kept 



at the Lucknow Residency some years before the 



T 



