220 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



well as in Northern and Eastern Bengal ; Messrs. C. T. M. 

 and E. V. W., both of the Civil Service, state that they have 

 never seen one ; as do all the rest. Having hunted and shot 

 for nearly forty years between Ganjam and Dibroghur, and 

 Benares and Arracan, I, too, can say that I have never 

 encountered a single full-grown individual ; but I once saw 

 in a litter of three cubs two which were quite black, the 

 third and the mother being of the common tree variety. 

 This curious incident in sporting life occurred in Noak- 

 holly, on the borders of Chittagong and Hill Tipperah, and it 

 proves, I think, that the black and tree panthers will inter- 

 breed, since it is highly improbable that the black cubs were 

 stolen, or had been put out to nurse by their black mother. 

 I have not heard of black panthers in captivity producing 

 any but black cubs, though I presume that, if paired with the 

 ordinary kind, both parents will be represented in their pro- 

 geny. I may add that I have never noticed a single black 

 panther's skin brought in by " Shikarees " for the Govern- 

 ment reward, although, from first to last, I must have seen 

 more than a thousand skins of the other kinds. 



According to the above evidence it may be inferred 

 that F. pardus melas exists in small numbers in the eastern 

 districts of Bengal, in Assam, and in the Hill Tracts adjoining 

 Arracan and Burmah ; and that it is extremely rare in other 

 parts of the Lower Provinces. It is heard of occasionally in 

 Bombay, Madras, and Central India ; but never in Upper 

 India and the Punjaub, so far as I am aware. 



Anyone who has carefully observed the form and move- 

 ments of this handsome creature, and compared them with 

 those of the common panthers in adjoining cages, must have 

 noticed the marked difference between them on several 

 points. The black panther seems to me lighter in build 

 and less muscular than the others, its head smaller and 

 rounder, and more like that of the domestic " Tittums " 

 of our hearths and homes ; less lively and frolicsome ; and 

 more prone to snarl like the lynx and tiger-cat, and to resent 

 human observation. 



