284 
IVILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA VS 
CHAP. 
of the crippled leopard, the cow was appeased, and 
a shot from a pistol through the head of the enemy 
closed the episode. 
Every resident in India is aware of the depre¬ 
dations committed by this pestilent class of the 
carnivora. Lions and tigers may be dangerous in 
the jungles in every country which they inhabit, but 
they never invade the actual premises; it is exactly 
there where the leopard is to be feared. Nothing is 
too small or too large for its attack ; from a fowl upon 
the roost to a cow in the pasturage, all that belongs 
to the domestic stock is fair game for the wily 
leopard. 
The cautious approach of this animal is so wary 
that a dog is pinned by the neck and carried off be¬ 
fore it is aware of the presence of its enemy. Upon 
one occasion in Africa we were bivouacked for the 
night on the banks of the Settite river, and no sound 
disturbed the repose of the camp. Suddenly a 
leopard bounded into the centre, where the Arabs 
were sleeping around the embers of a splendid fire, 
and seizing one of the dogs, it sprang into the dark¬ 
ness, carrying its captive with it. The remaining 
dogs rushed j off in pursuit, together with all the 
Arabs with swords and shields, and the leopard 
dropped its prize about 150 yards from our 
enclosure. The unfortunate dog had been sur¬ 
prised in its sleep, and it died in a few hours from 
the injuries sustained, the neck and throat being 
terribly lacerated. It would have been natural to 
suppose that the dogs would have given an alarm on 
