CARNARIA. CARNIVORA. 101 



suddenly leaped upon her back, where he stood in 

 triumph. She screamed so violently as to summon 

 the other servants, but they, seeing the Panther, 

 as they thought, in the act of swallowing her, one 

 and all scampered off as quickly as possible; nor 

 was she released till the governor, who heard the 

 noise, came to her assistance. Strangers were, na- 

 turally, uncomfortable, when they saw so powerful 

 a beast at perfect liberty, and many were the ridi- 

 culous scenes which took place ; they not liking 

 to own their alarm, yet perfectly unable to retain 

 their composure in his presence. 



" This interesting animal was fed twice every day, 

 but never given anything with life in it. He stood 

 about two feet high, and was of a dark-yellow colour, 

 thickly spotted with black rosettes ; and from the 

 good feeding, and the care taken to clean him, his 

 skin shone like silk. The expression of his coun- 

 tenance was very animated and good-tempered, and 

 he was particularly gentle to children. He would 

 lie down on the mats by their side when they slept, 

 and even the infant shared his caresses, and remained 

 unhurt. During the period of his residence at Cape 

 Coast, I was much occupied by making arrange- 

 ments for my departure from Africa ; but generally 

 visited my future companion every day, and we in 

 consequence became great friends before we sailed. 

 He was conveyed on board the vessel in a large 

 wooden cage, thickly barred in the front with iron. 

 Even this confinement was not deemed a sufficient 

 protection by the canoe-men, who were so alarmed 



