The Leopard and Panther 163 



up their prey, between the tiger and the panther, the 

 latter invariably commencing upon the fore quarters or 

 chest." General Shakespear, nevertheless, came unex- 

 pectedly upon a panther that had just killed a cow in the 

 Bootinaut correa, and it was feeding upon one of the hind 

 quarters, "a large piece of which had already been con- 

 sumed." Colonel Barras and Captain Forsyth consider 

 the throat to be the part first fastened upon, Baker states 

 that the body is at once torn open to get at the viscera, 

 and Inglis, Leveson, and others explain-that panthers suck 

 the blood of their victims before anything else. 



Similar dogmatic opinions and exclusive views of the 

 way in which a panther or leopard kills game have been 

 advanced. They are said to break the neck with a blow of 

 their forearm ; and also never to do so, not being able in 

 the case of large animals, and with small ones this being 

 unnecessary. Some authorities maintain that the cervical 

 vertebrae are dislocated by twisting the head ; others, that 

 the head is bent backward till the neck breaks. 



Hon. W. H. Drummond ("Large Game and Natural 

 History of South and Southeast Africa ") says that "leop- 

 ards and panthers are very numerous in that country." 

 He likewise apparently regards these varieties as distinct 

 species, and writes about the " ingwe " or Felts leopardus, 

 the " N'gululd" or maned leopard, and Felis pardus, the true 

 panther, as if two of these, at least, belonged to different 

 groups. 



Strangely enough to any one acquainted with the charac- 

 teristics of the Asiatic panther, Drummond asserts that 

 the leopard, which is a comparatively rare animal, is, al- 



