82 Anecdotal Natural History. 



one end of a village, and ' make a sham attack upon 

 it. When it has drawn all the armed men in pursuit, it 

 quietly sneaks away, skirts the village under cover, 

 slips in at the other end, pounces upon one of the 

 inhabitants generally a child and escapes with its 

 prey into the bush. 



The young of the leopard vary from one to five in 

 number. They are pretty little creatures, and as play- 

 ful as kittens, gambolling with their mother in just the 

 same manner. For the first few weeks of their life the 

 markings are very indistinct, but become more con- 

 spicuous as the animals grow older. 



Like most of the members of the cat tribe, the 

 leopard has occasionally been tamed, and has some- 

 times even been allowed to range the house at will, 

 after the manner of a favourite cat. All these animals, 

 however, have been captured when very young, before 

 their savage instincts have had time to show them- 

 selves. 



This animal is sometimes known as the Panther, the 

 two being merely very slight varieties of the same 

 species. 



