28o THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



some of which the skin (of the leopard) was still attached. 

 Blood was splashed plentifully on the tree stems and the low 

 brushwood, which for a space of a dozen yards around was 

 trampled flat." The leopard had fled upon the approach of 

 the dogs, leaving a trail of blood, which, though followed 

 quickly, was finally lost in bad ground. ' It is no -wonder 

 that from the above and many other evidences equally good, 

 Mr. Kirby considers the bush pig a remarkably courageous 

 animal. He says that it was "never yet known to show the 

 white feather," and declares that ^' a pig is never defeated 

 until he is dead." 



The Combats of Male Deer. ,. The sable antelope is one 

 of the few exceptions to the well-nigh universal rule against 

 fighting between wild animals of the same species. '^ Of this 

 species, Mr. Kirby says: "Sable antelope bulls ,fight most 

 fiercely amongst themselves, and though I have never actually 

 witnessed an encounter between them, I have often seen the 

 results of such, evidenced by great gaping wounds that could 

 have been made by nothing else than the horns of an opponent. 

 I once killed a large bull with a piece of another's horn tip, 

 fully three inches long, buried in its neck. In 1889 I shot an 

 old bull on the Swinya with a terrible wound_in its off shoulder, 

 caused by a horn thrust." 



Dining the jealous flashes of the mating season, the males 

 of several species of deer fight savagely. After a long period 

 of inaction while the new antlers are developing — ^from April 

 to September — the beginning of October finds the male deer, 

 elk, or moose of North America with a new suit of hair, new 

 horns, a swollen neck, and all his usual assertiveness. The 

 crisp autumn air promotes a disposition to fight something, 

 precisely as it inspires a sportsman to "kill something." 

 During October and November, particularly, it is well for an 

 unarmed man to give every antlered deer a wide berth. 



At this period, fights between the males of herds of mule 

 deer, white-tailed deer and elk are of frequent occurrence, 



