FOUND IX A DITCH. 209 



of a couple of lengths by G., so that he could come promptly 

 to my assistance if need were ; but we saw nothing of the 

 beast, and only noticed that a drain two or three feet deep, 

 and rather more than a yard in width, bisected the field from 

 side to side, and we naturally concluded that he lay hidden 

 therein, ready to pounce upon us when we gave him the 

 opportunity. The position was critical, for ignorant of the 

 whereabouts of the almost uninjured beast, we ran the risk of 

 coming upon him unawares, and being seized before we could 

 use our spears. However, something had to be done, if we did 

 not mean to acknowledge ourselves beaten out of the field. 



Accordingly G. and I rode into the grass at a hand gallop, 

 keeping abreast at a distance of a couple of spears' length, 

 and passed through it without any results. Next, taking 

 another line, we quartered the field, and had reached the 

 ditch when " Goldenrein," springing up in the air, dashed 

 madly over and beyond it, with the panther after us with a 

 wound in its chest from my spear, as I thrust downwards at 

 the beast on catching a glimpse as we flew over it. The 

 panther, unwilling again to face the open, paused at the edge 

 of the grass, and was there speared through the loins by G. 

 and finished off by me, without any more trouble. This was a 

 good specimen of the male tree, or smaller variety, measuring, 

 as it did, seven feet three inches in length, and being very stout 

 and lusty. 



By the time our grooms and some beaters had rejoined 

 us and dragged the carcase out of the grass-field, P. came 

 up on the mare, which had been caught among our led horses 

 and promptly taken to him. She would not, however, 

 approach closely the dead panther, snorting with fear at 

 its scent ; whereas the other two stood boldly over it, 

 " Goldenrein " sniffing and examining it as if to satisfy 

 himself as to the points in which it differed from the pigs 

 he was accustomed to run down. P. got out of his mis- 

 adventure with a few bruises and a helmet crushed out of 

 shape. 



The consort of our late foe had meanwhile been mobbed 



