CHAP. I.] LEOPARDS. 141 



Like the other carnivora, leopards are timid and cowardly 

 in the presence of man, never intruding on him volun- 

 tarily and making a hasty retreat when approached. 

 Instances have, however, occurred of individuals having 

 been slain by them, and it is believed, that, like the 

 tiger, having once tasted human blood they acquire an 

 habitual relish for it. A peon on duty by night at the 

 court-house of Anarajapoora, was some years ago carried 

 off by a leoplfrd from a table in the verandah on which 

 he had laid down his head to sleep. At Batticaloa a 

 " cheetah" in two instances in succession was known 

 to carry off men placed on a stage erected in a tree 

 to drive away elephants from rice-land : but such cases 

 are rare, and as compared with their dread of the 

 bear, the natives of Ceylon entertain but slight ap- 

 prehensions of the " cheetah." It is, however, the 

 dread of sportsmen, whose dogs when beating in the 

 jungle are especially exposed to its attacks : and I am 

 aware of one instance in which a party having tied their 

 dogs to the tent-pole for security, and fallen asleep 

 round them, a leopard sprang into the tent and carried 

 off a dog from the midst of its slumbering masters. 

 On one occasion being in the mountains near Kandy, a 

 messenger despatched to me through the jungle excused 

 his delay by stating that a "cheetah" had seated itself in 

 the only practicable path, and remained quietly licking 

 its fore paws and rubbing them over its face, till he was 

 forced to drive it, with stones, into the forest. 



They are strongly attracted by the peculiar odour 

 which accompanies small-pox. The reluctance of the 

 natives to submit themselves or their children to vac- 

 cination exposes the island to frightful visitations of 

 this disease ; and in the villages in the interior it is 

 usual on such occasions to erect huts in the jungle 

 to serve as temporary hospitals. Towards these the 

 leopards are certain to be allured ; and the medical 

 officers are obliged to resort to increased precautions in 

 consequence. 



