1 7 o THE LEOPARD. 



dogs rescued from the daring foe. To one of them aid came too late, for its skull 

 was literally smashed by a blow from the Leopard's paw. The same animal had sprung 

 upon and killed a goat which was picketed in the midst of the numerous servants 

 that accompany an European. 



Another Leopard committed an act of audacity which very much resembled the ex- 

 ploit of the roof-clinging Leopard mentioned on p. 168. 



In a native hut some goats were kept, and as night had drawn on, the humane 

 inhabitants of the hut were beneath the shelter of their own roof. A Leopard which 

 was prowling about, and was probably attracted either by the bleating or the scent of 

 the goats, clambered up the low walls of the hut, and tearing away with his claws the 

 fragile thatch, leaped into the middle of the room. In this cae, the Leopard fared 

 well enough, for the terrified inhabitants were without arms, and as soon as they saw 

 the unexpected visitor come tumbling through the roof, they hid themselves like so 

 many lean Falstaffs, in some wicker corn baskets that were standing in the hut, leav- 

 ing the Leopard to his own devices and in full possession of the ground. 



The Leopard has a curious and ingenious habit of obtaining a meal. He pays a 

 visit to some village, and taking up a convenient post, at some little distance, sets up 

 a loud and continuous growling. 



The pariah dogs, which swarm in every village, present a curious contradiction of 

 qualities. At the sound of a Leopard's voice they will rush furiously to the spot ut- 

 tering their yelling barks, as if they meant to eat up the enemy on the spot. But when 

 they come to close quarters, self-preservation obtains the upper hand, and they run 

 away as fast as they had appeared, turning again and baying at their foe as soon as 

 they see that he is not pursuing them. These habits render them of invaluable assistance 

 to the hunter, who employs the pariah dogs to point out the locality of his fierce 

 quarry, and to distract its attention when found. 



So at the sound of the angry growl, out rush the pariahs towards the spot from 

 whence the sounds proceeded, yelping as if they would split their throats by the 

 exertion. To draw the dogs away from the protecting vicinity of man is just the 

 object of the concealed Leopard, who springs from his hiding-place upon one of the 

 foremost dogs, and bounds away into the woods with his spoil. 



Fond as is the Leopard of well wooded districts, it appears to have a distaste for 

 trees around which there is no underwood. The long grass jungle which is so favored 

 by the tiger, is in no way suited to the habits of the Leopard ; so that if the hunter 

 seeks for tigers, his best chance of success is by directing his steps to the grass jungles, 

 while, if Leopards are the objects of his expedition, he is nearly sure to find them 

 among wooded places where the trees are planted among underwood reaching some 

 seven or eight feet in height. 



When a Leopard is " treed," /. <?. driven to take refuge in a tree, it displays great 

 skill in selecting a spot where it shall be concealed so far as possible from the gazers 

 below, and even when detected, covers its body so well behind the branches, that it is 

 no easy matter to obtain a clear aim at a fatal spot. Its favorite arboreal resting 

 places are at the junction of the larger limbs with the trunk, or where a large bough 

 gives off several smaller branches. The Leopard does not take to water so readily as 

 the tiger, and appears to avoid entering a stream unless pressed by hunger or driven 

 into the water by his pursuers. When fairly in the water, however, the Leopard is a 

 very tolerable swimmer, and can cross even a wide river without difficulty. 



The Leopard has often been tamed, and, indeed, almost domesticated, being 

 permitted to range the house at will, greatly to the consternation of strange visitors. 

 This complete state of docility can, however, only take place in an animal which has 

 either been born in captivity, or taken at so early an age that its savage propensities 

 have never had time to expand. Even in this case, the disposition of the creature 

 must be naturally good, or it remains proof against kindness and attention, never losing a 

 surliness of temper that makes its liberation too perilous an experiment. The very same 

 treatment by the same people will have a marvellously different effect on two dif- 

 ferent animals, though they be of the same species, or even the offspring of the same 

 parents. 



