A PANTHER IN A VILLAGE. 215 



three miles from my residence, to kill a panther, which had 

 taken up a position in the midst of a considerable village, 

 and was frightening the inhabitants from pursuing their usual 

 callings. Arriving on the scene, my informants pointed out 

 a little circle of low thorns and grass, not more than ten feet 

 in diameter at the junction of two cross roads intersecting 

 the village, which lay buried in deep silence ; the owners of 

 the houses either standing at half closed doors ready to bolt 

 in, or peeping through small windows. Dismounting from 

 my horse, I proceeded, gun in hand, to inspect the intruder's 

 position, and if possible, to dispose of him where he lay ; 

 but I could see nothing of him from any side, or even by 

 stooping low, get a view through the roots of the brambles 

 and was beginning to suspect that I had been inveigled out 

 on false representations ; the men, however, insisted on the 

 truth of their statements, declaring that they had seen it 

 enter the thicket, and that the beast had made at them 

 on their approaching its lair, from which it had not moved 

 according to the statements of the villagers. Failing to detect 

 any part of the panther, notwithstanding all my endeavours 

 to do so, and objecting to fire haphazard on the mere chance 

 of hitting an unseen object, I took a hog-spear from my 

 groom's hand, and advanced to thrust it down into the centre 

 of the patch which seemed hardly capable of concealing a 

 cat or a hare, determined to rouse the beast if really present ; 

 and while my arm was raised for that purpose, I was startled 

 by a sharp cry from my " Shikaree," that he had got a view 

 from where he was squatted on the ground, peering into the 

 tangled mass of grass and thorns. Springing back promptly, 

 and exchanging the spear for the gun, I ran round to the 

 " Shikaree," while the spectators hastened to secure them- 

 selves within doors, or upon the roofs of the houses. As 

 my eyes followed the direction of the " Shikaree's " pointed 

 finger, and his whispered instructions where to look, I caught 

 a glimpse of the beast ; up he leapt in a magnificent upright 

 bound from the very centre of the jungle patch, and returned 

 dead to the earth with a bullet through the heart. This was 



