Clarke's theory corkect. 
like a squirrel, and bounding down disappeared in the jungle 
in less time than 1 can write it. All my hopes vanished when 
I saw the mark of my shot on the branch. I was so afraid of 
firing over, that, alas ! I ainied a trifle too low. Francis had 
not seen the animal until it moved from the spot. I re-loaded» 
and while we moved a few paces towards the stream, was 
discussing with Francis the possibility of the ball having gone 
through the leopard's jaw, when I fancied I saw a movement 
in a branch near the top of a tree under which we had been 
standing. By Jove, it was another leopard ! the brute stopped 
for a moment, but was so hidden by leaves and branches that 
I waited for a better chance, but alas, that never came ; it ran 
down the branch like lightning, never showing but an inch or 
two of its back. I got one glimpse of its head and neck and 
fired. The next moment it had bounded on the high bank 
and disappeared in the thicket. As I expected we could find 
no signs of either having been touched ; Francis said the 
second was a " butcha/' it looked small — and so did I, uncom- 
monly, to see a brace of leopards getting away from me with 
whole skins, for I would much rather have bagged one of 
these than the two bison. The recollection of the two hares 
in the morning suddenly flashed across me, and then 1 knew 
how it was my bullet went crooked. Tom Clarke is right ; 
blow the hares ! But perhaps it was for the best, for if I had 
bagged these two leopards under the circumstances I should 
have been an unbearably conceited beast ever afterwards ; but 
it would have been a great thing to have killed these cattle- 
destroying brutes, to say nothing of my limitecl bag in this line. 
It was getting dusk, so had only time to look into the bush 
where we had seen the calf. It was not there ; oh, if I had 
come down to watch at once, I must have got one of them. 
