Pelts 



he hide under a leaf or a tiny wisp of grass. I 

 have — many shikari men will have — stared fix- 

 edly at, and on to, a leopard for a considerable 

 time without seeing him at all, and without in 

 any way being able to outline his form. Only a 

 slight movement, probably of the eye, or ear has 

 framed my eye to a portion of him, and has 

 enabled me to gradually define him. And even at 

 that he will be lost again if one takes an eye off 

 him. 



Given such a marvellous similarity in his colour 

 and markings to his natural environment, com- 

 bined with a wonderful lithe, crouching and abso- 

 lutely silent method of progression, with perhaps 

 some little understood instinct for locating 

 danger, and it is not difficult to understand how 

 so many driven leopards get safely away, passing 

 close to the rifles in the most perfect safety. 



It was only the other day that a couple of us 

 had been beating for sambhar and chitul up in the 

 Dun jungles. The afternoon was drawing to a 

 close, as we came to the end of a long beat in rather 

 heavy jungle. But a narrow strip of forest and 

 tall grass separated us from a broad stony river- 

 bed. The moment the coolies emerged on the line, 

 we made hurriedly for the river-bed to take up 

 our last stand of the day. Quick as we were, we 

 were not quick enough ! As we emerged into the 

 rao and looked up stream, there, some 150 or 200 

 yards ahead, was a leopard making off up it. He 



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