36 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
dreaded by the mild and timid Hindoos, the polite but 
still barbarous Chinese, and the fierce and savage Islanders 
of the great Sumatran chain. Throughout this immense 
tract of country he varies but in a trifling degree, and that 
merely in his comparative magnitude, in the size, shape, 
and disposition of his markings, and in the greater or 
less intensity of his colouring: in the more essential 
particulars of form and structure, as well as in character 
and disposition, he is every where the same. 
It has already been mentioned that the Leopard is 
smaller than the Tiger; indeed he seldom exceeds from 
three to four feet from the tip of the nose to the root of 
the tail, which latter is somewhat shorter than the body. 
Perhaps the largest authentic measurement is that of an 
animal, spoken of under the designation of Panther, but 
in all probability truly a Leopard, which was killed by 
Colonel Denham’s party in the course of that zealous 
and successful traveller’s late expedition, and which is 
stated at eight feet two inches from the muzzle to the 
extremity of the tail. This savage creature, although 
twice impaled by the lances of his pursuers which he 
had snapped asunder in his rage, was still on the point 
of making a spring upon the foremost of the party, when 
a musket ball through the head completely deprived him 
of that vitality which his previous wounds, dangerous 
and fatal as they undoubtedly were, had not even ap- 
peared to diminish in any sensible degree. 
The ground colour of the fur of the Leopard, which is 
eminently and beautifully sleek, is a yellowish fawn 
above, which becomes paler on the sides, and is entirely 
lost in the pure white of the under part of the body. 
The top of the back, the head, neck, limbs, and under 
