Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-07-05
Beltttnttt Gltru,tirlr.
THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1883.
ADvENTURE wITH A LEoPARD.

with my life during my hunting trips
was with leopard, says a writer in the
american Field, and / never wish to be
in the same situation again. 1t was
while hunting across the Zambese. There
were Burns, George Holmes, and 1, with
about thirty Kaffirs, in the party. We
had been searching about for two DAYS
without finding any spoor of elephants,
when all at once about the middle of the
third day We came upon the spoor of five
elephants.
We followed the spoor to a wood of
''wait-a-bit' bushes, &C., and it was
while going through this wood that a
leopard sprang up in front of us and
made off in an opposite direction. Burns,
who was in the lead, made a shot at
him, but scored clean miss on account of
his horse rearing to one side. 1 noticed
the brute made for bush to the right of
us, so Burns and started after him on
foot, leaving George to look after the
horses. We thought rest would do them
good before hunting the elephants. The
bush that the leopard made for was
about one hundred yards from US, but
when we reached it the leopard had van
ished. We hunted around for minute
or SO, when up jumped the leopard about
twenty yards from us. We both fired
together and the brute made leap as if
hard hit, and sprang behind bush to
the left. We ewere both creeping toward
the bush. Burns was about six yards to
the right of me, when all at once he cried
out:
'Iook out, Kid" But before l had
time to look or do anything the leopard
sprang at me and flOored me like ten
pins, knocking my rife from my hand
at the same time. He sprang at me
from the left side, so in that way my
right arm was free. How l got off as
lucky as l did l cannot tell; but as luck
would have it, my knife was on the right
side of my belt. Drawing it l let
the savage brute have its point clean in
its snOut, just as he was in the act of
grabbing at my throat. l suppose the
sting was more than he had anticipated
and gave him time to think. Lucky
for me he did, for just then Burns, who
had fixed his bayonet, came to my assist
ance. The brute seeing another pointer
coming toward him, thought it best to
clear out, which he did pretty quickly;
in fact before Burns could get dig at
him he had disappeared into the bush.
The whole affair had been so sudden
that hardly knew where L was until
old Burns said:
Are you hurt, Kid?"
Then l jumped up pretty quickly and
fal4 oil % Cd
were broken, blessing the leopard and
all his race at the same time. My left
arm was stunned from the blow, and l
did not know but what the left side of
my person had gone for walk, it was
so numbed. Anyhow, l soon felt all
right again, and with the exception of a
lump of skin hanging from my first fin
ger on the left hand, done by the brute's
claw, no other damage had occurred.
took piece of linen and bound the fin
ger up with the lump of skin in its place,
and the whole affair grew together
again; but the mark l shall carry to my
dying day.
1t has always been motto of mine
never to forgive an enemy, and l GER
tainly considered this leopard one, so
made up mind to have his skin if had
to have the skin of all my fingers claw
ed off, This told Burns, and he said:
That's right, Kid; revenge is sweet.
That's my motto"
So off we started to hunt the leopard
again. This time he seemed to have
gone distance; but all along the spoor
were spots of blood, caused, no doubt,
by the bullet he had received when we
both fired together All at once Burns
raised his gun and fired at bush about |
fifty yards in front of us, and in another
moment 1 saw the leopard creeping to
another bush short distance ahead
Burns had seen the animal through the
bush, but the bullet must have hit some
branch or other, for the leopard did not
seem to notice anything except being
surprised by the report from the gun.
Burns now whispered to go cautiously, |
as the brute was very savage, now that |
it was wounded, and would show good |
fight for liberty.
After creeping about fifteen yards |
Burns pointed to the bush the leopard
had gone to, and there l saw the old fel- |
low lying down, evidently in great pain.
He would keep getting up and lying
down, all the time licking his side, where
no doubt the wounds were. This time
we decided to have good broadside at
him, so we crept to the left, taking care
not to let the animal see us. When we
got between fifty and one hundred yards
from him we had good view, and
watched his antics for few minutes
Then leveling our rifles we both fired |
together The leopard sprang up. leaped |
about twelve feet and rolled clean over
on his side. l was about to make run |
up to him when old Burns dragged me
back, and lucky for me he did, for just |
then up jumped the leopard and cut
some of the queerest capers l ever saw.
We afterward found out that one of the
bullets had gone clean through the ball
of his left eye, and this no doubt caused |
him to act in the way he did. Blood
was pouring from his left side and we
could see he was nearly gone. But had
he seen either of us there is no doubt he
would have made a terrible rush, and at
the time when a leopard is mOrtally
wounded, although it may live for time.
it is then that it is the most savage, and
will generally spring at anything it sees.
Knowing this, Burns let him have an
other shot in the side, at which he made
a leap in the air and came down all in a
heap dead. The bushes were in his ia
vor, and it is wonder to me he did not
escape altogether.
We had quite long walk back to the
horses, but reached them quite safe, and
took up the spoor of the elephants again,
returning next evening after killing two
of the finest bulls. My arm and side re-
manned rather stiff for several days, but
1 Iconsider got off pretty lucky and cheap
at that, with the clawed finger thrown
into the bargain.
'How Is IT, my DEAR" said husband