126 LEOPARDS AND PANTHES. 



large buck, of the full size of our forest deer. 

 It surprised us to think how he could possibly 

 have carried it over the wall ; and upon exa- 

 mining the place minutely,, we at length dis- 

 covered the marks of his claws, fresh and dis- 

 tinct on the stalk of a mango tree; by which 

 it appeared that he must have ascended the 

 tree with the deer in his mouth,, and sprung 

 from it upon the wall ; the distance of which, 

 from any branch of the tree sufficiently strong 

 to bear such a weight, must have been seven 

 or eight feet. 



As we could discover no old marks, he 

 must have carried the others by a direct leap 

 over the wall, an effort requiring extraordinary 

 strength and activity. I have called it leopard 

 but I rather think it was a panther, an ani- 

 mal larger than a leopard. 



On another occasion a native Doctor in- 

 formed me that a tiger had just killed a year- 

 ling bullock close to his house, and that he 



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