288 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



prodigious bit of climbing. Cicely said she was 

 confident her bullet told ; I know mine didn't. We 

 reached the spot where the animal was ensconced, and 

 there, sure enough, we could see, if we stooped, his 

 crouched shoulders, head dropped on paws, eyes 

 gleaming defiance. He was a foe to be afraid of, and 

 I was afraid for consequences. The men were in 

 such dangerous positions, and all of us had such in- 

 secure foothold. In case of a charge from the leopard 

 one or more would certainly go over the rocks to the 

 bottom of the gorge, a very nasty fall indeed. I made 

 up my mind I would finish it. I walked as carefully 

 as I could towards my enemy, rifle ready, expecting 

 the very worst every minute. I drew a bead on its 

 head. Fired ! A moment of such intense anxiety. 

 No movement. We advanced cautiously. The great 

 cat was dead. A passive ending indeed. 



By all the laws of first blood he belonged to Cecily. 

 She had got him very much indeed, in the base of the 

 spine. He was done for when I shot him, and it is 

 questionable if he had the power to move at all. 

 Indeed, his ascent of the place, wounded where he was, 

 seemed to us a wonderful feat. The men extricated 

 the beautiful thing ; he was somewhat aged, with old 

 teeth, and skin much scarred and seamed with fighting. 

 The head-man from the karia was very much delighted, 

 for he insisted the leopard was one for whom they had 

 long looked to make an end of. He had struck down 

 a Somali, who was only saved by the spears of his 

 friends. The yellow danger lurked in rocks, and would, 

 from all accounts, probably have developed into a 



