280 IMPKOMPTU LANTEEN. 



appeared, I followed the track, and found the 

 body of my dog half a mile off : the leopard 

 must have carried him in its mouth all the 

 way, as there was no trace of its having 

 dragged him along the ground. It must 

 have left the carcass, upon hearing our ad- 

 vancing footsteps, for the ribs were only 

 just laid bare, and scarcely any of it eaten. 

 I returned home to breakfast, and to make 

 preparations for a night watch ; there would 

 be no moon, so in case the leopard did not 

 return before it was quite dark, I made a 

 lantern, by knocking out one side of a large 

 tin canister, and placing in it a cup of oil, in 

 which floated a thick cotton wick. 



On reaching the spot where we had left 

 the carcass, I found to my mortification, that 

 the leopard had returned and taken it away, 

 and it was not without difficulty, that we 

 succeeded in tracing it about a mile further, 

 where we found it half-devoured. Tying 

 what remained to a bush, we made a slight 

 shelter about thirty yards ofif, by placing 

 some bushes against a jutting piece of rock. 



