THE PANTHER. 



35 



of the local Shikari, I tied up the dog at a point where several paths met, a few hundred 

 yards from the village. The spot chosen was an open space in the jungle, where there were only a 

 few bushes scattered about ; and I sat down behind one of these, within about twelve yards of 

 the bait. It was full moon, and a beautiful still night, and as the wretched dog howled lustily 

 there was a very fair chance of getting a shot at the Panther, if he was in the vicinity. I 

 watched patiently for several hours, until at last the pariah appeared to resign himself to his 

 disagreeable position, coiled himself up, and went to sleep. I fancy that I was not long in 

 following his example, and I slept soundly until just before dawn, when I was awoke by the 

 frightened yelping of the dog. Sitting up with my rifle in my hand, I saw a large Panther 

 bound across the open space and seize the dog. It was nearly as light as day, but as the two 

 animals struggled together, I waited till they should be still for a moment, so as to get a 

 steady shot. Before the opportunity offered itself, the chain by which the dog was tied up 

 suddenly snapped, and the dog escaping from the Panther's grasp made off at full speed, 

 with his enemy in hot pursuit. All happened so instantaneously, that I had not a chance of a 

 shot, and although I ran after the retreating animals I saw nothing more of them. Day was 

 now commencing to break, so I shouted to my Shikari, who was sleeping in the village, and on 

 his arrival told him what had happened. On examining the chain I found that it had been 

 broken before, and mended by my servant with a bit of string, which naturally soon gave 

 way. Of course, it was my own fault for not carefully inspecting the chain before making 

 use of it, but that did not make the fiasco the less annoying. On searching for the dog, we 

 found that he had made his way to the village, and scratched violently at the door of a 

 house. On the owner's opening it the dog rushed in, and the man saw the Panther turn away 

 disappointed. The dog was very slightly injured, having only received a few rather deep 

 scratches. On a subsequent night I again sat up for the same Panther, but I never saw him 

 again. 



In the Bhutan Dooars in 1880 when out Tiger shooting with a friend, we received khubr 

 of a Tiger having killed a cow about two miles off. The man who brought the news was 

 very positive of its accuracy, and informed us that the jungle where the dead cow lay was a 

 small one and easily beaten. We were soon on our way to the place, with about fifteen 

 Elephants, and on arriving at our destination, we found a small and extremely tortuous 

 stream, whose steep banks were fringed by belts of high and dense reeds. The cover only 

 extended a short distance, so the guns were sent to the end, while the pad Elephants formed 

 line and proceeded to beat. For some time none of the Elephants gave any indication of their 

 having detected the presence of any wild beast ; but as they entered a very thick patch in a 

 loop of the stream, two or three of them trumpeted, and we at once saw that game was on 

 foot. The Elephants forced their way onwards in a dense mass, and presently something 

 glided along the edge of the stream and crossed to my left. I could only see the grass move 

 but made my Elephant advance -a pace or two, upon which the Panther (for such it was) 

 raised its head to look for an opening to escape by. It was only twenty-five yards off, and 

 a bullet from my heavy rifle immediately crashed through its neck, and it dropped without a 

 struggle. This Panther was, of course, the slayer of the cow. 



