Chap. I.] 
BEAES. 
25 
Leopards 1 are the only formidable members of the 
tiger race in Ceylon 2 , and they are neither very nume- 
rous nor very dangerous, as they seldom attack man. 
By the Europeans, the Ceylon leopard is erroneously 
called a cheetah, but the true "cheetah" (felisjubata), 
the hunting leopard of India, does not exist in the 
island. 3 
There is a rare variety of the leopard which has been 
found in various parts of the island, in which the skin, 
instead of being spotted, is of a uniform black. 4 Leo- 
pards frequent the vicinity of pasture lands in quest 
of the deer and other peaceful animals which resort to 
them ; and the villagers often complain of the destruc- 
but to go further was impracticable. 
Just within ball-range there was an 
open space, and, as the man gained 
it, I saw that he was pursued by a 
bear and two cubs. As the person 
of the fugitive covered the bear, it 
was impossible to fire without risk. 
At last he fell exhausted, and the 
bear being close upon him, I dis- 
charged both barrels. The first 
broke the bear's shoulder, but this 
only made her more savage, and 
rising on her hind legs she ad- 
vanced with ferocious growls, when 
the second barrel, though I do not 
think it took effect, served to frigh- 
ten her, for turning round she re- 
treated, followed by the cubs. Some 
natives then waded through the 
mud to the Moorman, who was 
just exhausted, and would have 
been drowned but that he fell with 
his head upon a tuft of grass : the 
poor man was unable to speak, 
and for several weeks his intellect 
seemed confused. The adventure 
sufficed to satisfy him that he could 
not again depend upon a charm to 
protect him from bears, though he 
always insisted that but for its 
having fallen from his hair where 
he had fastened it under his tur- 
ban, the bear would not have ven- 
tured to attack him." 
1 Eelis pardus, Linn. What is 
called a leopard, or a cheetah, in 
Ceylon, is in reality the true pan- 
ther. 
2 A belief is prevalent at Trin- 
comalie that a Bengal tiger inhabits 
the jungle in its vicinity ; and the 
story runs that it escaped from the 
wreck of a vessel on which it had 
been embarked for England. Offi- 
cers of the Government state posi- 
tively that they have more than 
once come on it whilst hunting ; 
and one gentleman of the Boyal 
Engineers, who had seen it, assured 
me that he could not be mistaken 
as to its being a tiger of India, and 
one of the largest description. 
3 Mr. Bakee, in his Eight Years 
in Ceylon, has stated that there 
are two species of leopard in the 
island, one of which he implies is 
the Indian cheetah. But although 
he specifies discrepancies in size, 
weight, and marking between the 
varieties which he has examined, 
his data are not sufficient to iden- 
tify any of them with the true felis 
jubata. 
4 F. melas, Peron and Leseur. 
