LIFE AND SCENES IN THE JUNGLE 33 



far enough to spare my cage. Had it struck the 

 body of it, no doubt it would have been partly de- 

 molished, for the main body of the bough was about 

 six inches in diameter and ten feet long. This par- 

 ticular tornado lasted for nearly three hours, and was 

 the most violent of any I saw during the entire year. 



Now the storm subsides, but the darkness is im- 

 penetrable. I have no light of any kind, for that 

 would alarm the inhabitants of the jungle, and 

 attract a vast army of insects from all quarters. 

 Moses and the boy are fast asleep, while I sit and 

 listen to the many strange and weird sounds heard 

 in the jungle at night. The bush crackles near by. 

 It is a leopard creeping through it. He is coming 

 this way. Slowly, cautiously he approaches. I can- 

 not see him in the deep shadows of the foliage, but 

 I can locate him by sound, and identify him by his 

 peculiar tread. Perhaps he will attack the cage 

 when he gets near enough. He is creeping up 

 closer. He evidently smells his prey, and is bent on 

 seizing it. 



My rifle stands by my elbow. I silently raise it, 

 and lay it across my lap. The brute is now crouch- 

 ing within a few yards of me, but I cannot see to 

 shoot him. I hear him move again, as if adjusting 

 himself to spring upon the cage. He cannot see it, 

 but he has located me by scent. I hear a low rust- 

 ling of the leaves as he wags his tail preparatory to 

 a leap. If I could only touch a button and turn on 

 a bright electric light over his head ! He remains 

 crouching near, while I sit with the muzzle of my 



