

< \ssKLL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



This twaui i, however, superior t,, them i.. one reject in the extreme pliability of his sp,,,e, which 



him nil agility and velocity surpass..,!, perhaps, l,y no other ;mimal. He climbs tivcs with such 

 n-tonishing rapidity that few animals are safe from his ravages. Man alone seems to be respected by 

 him but, "if presse 1 hint by the hunter, the leopard will turn upon him, and it requires both skill 

 ;in , pi , :,,,., the fury of his attacks. .Many instances have occurred of man falling a 



victim to the leopard, though he must, in general, be pressed to the onset. 



T ,, !,f the lenpard is widely extended over the Old World, even more so than that of 



the lion himself. 



In the year 17'IS, Kolhen rel lies that two leopards, a male and female, with three nibs, entered 



pfoldd the Oapeof <!ood Hope. The old ones killed nearly a hundred sheep, and regaled 



,'lves on the blood. When they were saiialed, they tore a carcase into three pieces, and gave 



a part to ea-h of their young ones. They then took each a whole sheep ; and, thus laden, began to 



move i.tl 1 . bur. wc^re discovered in their retreat; and the female, with the young ones, was killed, 



while the male effected his escape. 



The following adventure took place in a frontier district of Southern Africa in lX-2'2, and was 

 ibed by one of the two individuals so perilously engaged in it : 



Two boors returning from hunting the hartebecst (the <r,th-li>i>f /mf,ri'!s), fell in with a leopard in 

 a mountain ravine, and immediately gave chase to him. The animal at first endeavoured to esca pe, 

 b\- clambering up a precipice, but, being hotly pressed, and slightly wounded by a musket-ball, he 

 -11 his pursuers with that frantic ferocity which, on such emergencies, he frequently displays, 

 aud. springing upon the man who had fired at him, tore him from his horse to the ground, biting him 

 at the same time verv severely on. the shoulder, and tearing his face and arms with his claws. The 

 other hunter, seeing the danger of his comrade, sprang from his horse, and attempted to shoot the 

 le .pard through the head : hut, whether owing to trepidation, or the fear of wounding his friend, or 

 the sudden motions of the animal, he unfortunately missed his aim. 



Tli;- leopard, abandoning his prostrate enemy, darted with redoubled fury upon this second 



..list, and so fierce aud sudden was his onset, that, before the boor could stab him with his 



hunting-knife, he struck him in the eyes with his claws, and had torn the scalp over his forehead. In 



this frightful condition, the hunter grappled with the raging beast, and, struggling for life, they rolled 



ner down a steep declivity. All this passed so rapidly that the other man had scarcely time to 



: from the confusion into which his feline foe had thrown him, to seize his gun, and rush forward 



to aid his comrade, when he beheld them rolling together down the steep bank, in mortal conflict. In 



a few moments he was at the bottom with them, but too late to save the life of his friend, who had so 



gallantlv defended him. The leopard had torn open the jugular vein, and so dreadfully mangled the 



throat of the unfortunate man, that his death was inevitable ; and his comrade had only the 



melaiicho! .ion of completing the destruction of the savage be-ast, which was already much 



exhausted by several deep wounds in the breast from the desperate knife of the expiring huntsman. 



It i-, onlv when fearful of being disturbed that leopards carry off the body of their victim from 



the spot where it has fallen ; and even in such cases they never transfer it to their dens, but seek out 



-olitarv place in which to glut their ravenous cravings. When satiated they quit the carcase, 



to which they never return, and retire to their dens to sleep off the effects of their gluttonous meal, 



until their renovated appetite stimulates them to a fresh pursuit of prey. Even 



iln' female is not -.infrequently called upon to protect their mutual offspring from the ravenous jaws of 

 her mali' comp: 



Next to their ferocity, the leading feature in the character of all the feline tribe is suspicion. It is 



this which imparts, even to the largest and most powerful of the group, an air of wiliness and malignity 



but ill assorting with their gigantic size and immense muscular power. Of this feeling they can never 



di\ested ; it is sufficiently remarkable even in the domesticated race, but becomes still more 



iiieh are kept in a state of confinement Those, for instance, in the Zoological 



Gardens, though they may appeal- reconciled to their condition, and even attached to their keepers, are 

 Itertwd by the unusual occurrence, and become restless, uneasy, and mistrustful, whenever 



Bl place in the objects by which they are surrounded. 

 Sir Emerson 'IV 'nt has recently favoured us with some interesting facts in reference to the 



