164 Wild Beasts 



though of smaller size, the fiercer and more dangerous of 

 the two. He explains that its rarity is more apparent than 

 real, and depends upon the creature's "nocturnal habits 

 and the thickness of the jungles they lie in," so that sports- 

 men only " occasionally come across them by accident." 



It is singular, however, that a hunter who had passed a 

 number of years in a country where they abound, should 

 have been so little impressed by the prowess of a beast 

 which, at least in Central and West Africa, is very destruc- 

 tive to human life. It must be the case that the brute's 

 character varies somewhat with locality, yet Drummond's 

 narrative portrays a condition of things under which its 

 native ferocity and aggressive nature should have been 

 developed and not diminished. However this may be, the 

 pale, almost white-skinned panther, whose light color is 

 very conspicuous in its rosette, was plainly regarded by 

 Drummond as a much less formidable foe than its conge- 

 ner of the Indian jungles, or even than its relations which 

 Baker and others found in the northern parts of Africa. 



Still, he admits that " common leopards, i.e. the two forms 

 locally known under the name of ingwe, are much to be 

 dreaded when brought to bay, and that anecdotes innu- 

 merable might be related of instances where they have 

 killed or seriously injured both white and black hunters. 

 The virus of their bite is very great. I remember once 

 seeing seven men belonging to a Zulu village awfully torn 

 and mangled by a single animal, and the wounds remained 

 open for a long time, and ultimately left great scars. On 

 the other hand, I know of several who have died where the 

 injuries received were not such as to have been generally 



