LEOPARDS 81 



reach the edge of the forest at 5 p.m., and soon found tlie 

 house that he told nie he had tliere (ahitude 4,700 feet). 

 I have every reason to beUeve that I was the first 

 European who had ever visited the phace, and I may 

 mention that, when I came to stay here later on, natives 

 would make journeys of four or five days to see the 

 Foreign Devil who they heard was living there. Being 

 very tired, I was glad to find a fairly decent house, and 

 after tea turned in early. 



On the next day, October 10, 1 started to reconnoitre 

 and make inquiries of such natives as I might be fortu- 

 nate enough to meet with, for the district is ver}' thinly 

 populated, the few that do inhabit it growing a little 

 Indian corn for their food, and it is worthy of note that 

 here they will not eat rice. Before I had gone far I 

 came across the tracks of a wild pig, which I followed 

 for some distance, and then, not far from it, found the 

 remains of a domestic pig that had evidently been killed 

 by a leopard, for the tracks could be plainly seen. These 

 I decided to follow, and found they led into the thick 

 jungle, where in most places it was impossible to advance 

 except upon hands and knees. Soon I came upon 

 the lairs of two of them, which they must have ver}- 

 recently quitted, for they were still warm to the hand ; 

 probably the brutes had been alarmed at my approach. 

 The jungle now became so thick, and progress so slow, 



