288 
IVILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
a fight with an immense boar, and his name will 
reappear in connection with the sambur deer, 
misnamed the “elk,” throughout Ceylon. 
It is most discouraging to lose good dogs through 
the stealthy attacks of leopards, and in looking back 
to the list of casualties among the pack when I kept 
hounds in Ceylon it is distressing to see the number 
which were taken by these unsparing animals. If a 
hound is lost in the jungle, it will certainly sit down 
and howl, thereby exhibiting considerable intelligence, 
as it is, in fact, crying for assistance ; but such a cry 
will attract the ever-wary leopard, who will probably 
approach by leaping from tree to tree, and pounce 
upon the unfortunate dog before it is aware of the 
impending danger. The hound that would have 
offered a stout resistance if boldly attacked face to 
face, has no more chance than an Irish landlord 
when shot at by an assassin secreted behind a wall 
by the roadside. 
This noiseless approach may be imagined from an 
incident which occurred to me in Abyssinia, when 
watching a pool by moonlight, in a deep bend of the 
river Royan during the dry season; all streams 
had evaporated, excepting an occasional deep hole in 
a sudden curve of the exhausted bed. Hours had 
been passed, but nothing larger than antelopes had 
appeared. We were sitting beneath a very large 
tree completely denuded of leaves, and the moon 
was shining brightly, producing a sharp outline of 
every bough. Suddenly my wife pulled my sleeve 
and directed my attention to a large animal 
