826 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



here on Friday, June 22, in the middle of the day and inside my bungalow, 

 which is in the most central part of Jubbulpore, is quite unique, and may prove 

 of interest. 



About 1 p. m. I was sitting writing in my verandah, when my wife came out 

 from a side of the bungalow which we only use for visitors, and sdid that she 

 had seen the tail of a panther protruding from behind a very large coil of 

 matting which was standing on its end in a corner of the room. As one of my 

 N.-C. O.'s has a full-grown panther as a pet, I naturally concluded this rather 

 undersirable visitor had broken away from his chain and had taken up his 

 abode for the day with me, so I promptly sent off a message for the owner to 

 come up and reclaim his lost property. The R.F.A. lines are only a few 

 hundred yards off, so a reply was soon received that the pet panther was on 

 his chain. In the meantime I satisfied myself without doubt that the beast 

 behind the coil of matting was a panther, and, hastily sending another 

 messenger to the barracks for a brother officer, I prepared the ground by re- 

 moving all the furniture from the adjoining room and closing the doors of the 

 room in which the panther was apparently soundly sleeping, the noise of our 

 voices and the moving of the furniture having no effect on the sleeping brute. 

 Taking a rifle myself, and arming my wife and the battery rough rider, who 

 had unexpectedly turned up, also with rifles, we decided on shooting him in the 

 room, and in the event of his bolting out of the house by the only route we 

 deemed he would most probably take, my wife and the rough rider stood out- 

 side, prepared to give him a warm reception. 



Opening the door just sufficiently to get my rifle through, I fired through the 

 grass matting roll at the spot which I thought most likely to be fatal to the 

 panther. The crack of the rifle was followed by a whough and a growl, and 

 out came the beast straight for the door behind which I was standing. Luckily 

 it closed the right way, for I had barely time to step behind a big pillar in the 

 room before tke angry beast passed me within a foot or two, having succeeded 

 in forcing an exit by springing against the door, which rebounded. I had just 

 time to see he was badly wounded in the stomach and appeared completely 

 non-plussed. How he missed noticing me I cannot tell ; it is only attributable 

 to the fact that the animal was bent on seeking his own safety, and was 

 thoroughly startled at finding himself in such strange surroundings, as he im- 

 mediately proceeded to bolt into an adjoining room, thus giving me a chance to 

 clear out of the house and to reconsider the situation. I felt sure the beast 

 was too badly wounded to take to the open, especially as the rumour of its 

 presence had collected a crowd of natives, who wisely kept well in the back- 

 ground ; but as there were ten rooms on the ground flour, in any of which he 

 could take cover, I postponed pursuing the animal until the arrival of 

 St. Macau, who now appeared, armed with a Paradox. Each room in turn was 

 carefully reconnoitred, the blood tracks being very copious, showing exactly 

 where he had gone. In one room a halt had been made opposite a large mirror, 

 which the panther must have ssen his image, as the presence of a very large in 



