THE LEOPARD. 63 



went through his cheek, for it certainly did not seriously 

 injure him, as he instantly rose upon his legs, with a loud 

 roar, and placed his paws upon the soldier's breast. At this 

 moment, the animal appeared to me to about reach the centre 

 of the mein's face; but I had scarcely time to observe this, 

 when the tiger, stooping his head, seized the soldier's arm 

 in his mouth, turned him half round staggering, threw him 

 over on his back, and fell upon him. Our dread now was, 

 that, if we fired upon the tiger, we might kill the man. For 

 a moment, there was a pause, when his comrade attacked 

 •the beast exactly in the same manner as the gallant fellow 

 himself had done. He struck his bayonet into his head; the 

 tiger rose at him — he fired; and this time the ball took effect, 

 and in the head. The animal staggered backwards, Eind we 

 all poured in our fire. He still kicked and writhed; when 

 the gentlemen with the hog-spears advanced, and fixed him, 

 while he was finished by some natives beating him on the 

 head with hedge-stakes. The brave artillerymEm was, after 

 all, but slightly hurt: He claimed the skin, which was very 

 cheerfully given to him. There was, however, a cry among 

 the natives, that the head should be cut off: it was; and, 

 in so doing, the knife came directly across the bayonet. The 

 animal measured little less than four feet, from the root of 

 the tail to the muzzle. There was no tradition of a t^er 

 having been in Jaffna before. Indeed, this one must have 

 either come a distance of almost twentj' miles, or have swam 

 across an arm of the sea nearly two miles in breadth; for 

 Jaf&ia stands on a peninsula, on which there is no jungle 

 of any magnitude." 



Hunters Captain Brown gives a thrilling story of an 

 Hunted, adventure which befell two Boers in South 

 Afiica in 1822. They were returning firom a hunting excur- 

 sion, when they unexpectedly fell in with a leopard in a 

 mountain ravine, and immediately gave chase to him. The 

 animal at first endeavoured to escape, by clamberii^ up a 



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