ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 89 



reflection, and lifted his head, the water dripping from 

 his jaws, and gazed full at me. Then he backed, absolutely 

 without a sound or the faintest rustle of the fallen leaves, 

 just like a scared cat (which indeed he was), creeping away 

 into safety for itself. That was all he cared about ; that 

 is all they ever do care about, these wild things, no 

 matter what stories sensation- writers may invent. 



But the beauty of him ! His coat was of gleaming 

 tawny satin, with jetty rosettes, and his eyes of aqua- 

 marine, as I could see while they were glaring into mine. 



I felt quite sorry he had let himself be interrupted before 

 finishing his drink comfortably ; for I may truly say that 

 all fear on my side vanished on seeing how he behaved, 

 keeping his eyes on me furtively, for fear of my flying at 

 him, I suppose ! whilst, in reality, he could have made such 

 very short work of me had he but known it. 



On the second and similar occasion I almost stumbled 

 over a panther, again close to the tents. We came face 

 to face as I was turning the angle of a rock, under the shelv- 

 ing base of which he had been enjoying his noonday siesta. 

 He was in the act of stretching himself preparatory to stroll- 

 ing off, and so near were we that he could have laid his 

 paw upon me had he not been as frightened as I was. Far 

 from wanting to do anything of the sort, he shrank back, 

 flattened himself, and then turned on his stomach as on a 

 pivot, and so crawled for a little way, till he could pluck 

 up heart to gather his limbs together for a bound into 

 cover, like the other panther instinctively making his own 

 safety his first thought. 



These encounters did not last long, not so much as a 

 minute perhaps, but on each occasion my eyes met those 

 of the panther, and we looked full at each other. What 

 they saw in mine I cannot imagine, but I saw in theirs 

 abject terror, and question as to how to save themselves 

 without my stopping them. I suppose my appearance 



