MV LAST LKQl^AKU, 
As I came home across the paddy bunds 1 lost my footing, I 
had already lost my temper ! 
When at Naadgarmee on 8th February, 1870, I went 
out at sunrise to search the precipices in the rear of the 
camp for ibex, but saw nothing. In the afternoon out again 
with Francis ; it had been very misty all day and the fog 
was still hanging about the precipices ; when we got near 
them I saw something move on a rock about one hundred 
and twenty yards from me ; I knew it was a leopard by the 
way it crouched on seeing us. From being very misty I 
fancy it could not make us out ; and as we were looking at 
it with the glasses it suddenly glided out of sight, but 
appeared on the hill again almost immediately, rather nearer 
to us, and I thought for a moment it had taken us for deer 
or ibex. It then returned to the rock looking so dark that 
I thought is was one of the black variety and the mist 
magnified it considerably as it stood, looking so handsome ; 
it again disappeared over the rock which was close to the 
edge of a precipice, I fancied I saw another head on the 
same rock which vanished at the same time, and I stalked 
up to a small tree about sixty yards above the rock. I had 
not waited long when the leopard again appeared, facing 
me ; I think he saw me but he was quite distinct as he stood 
on the edge of the precipice, so I took a steady pot at 
him, a loud thud and the beast was head down and tail 
up. Francis was delighted and cried out, "all right, he's 
dead," and was going down to him, but I prevented him. 
We both thought there was another close at hand and as we 
were working round to get above the one lying stretched on 
the grass, apparently as dead as Julius Caesar, I suddenly 
saw the head and neck of another within twenty yards of me 
