The Bessemer indicator., 1893-11-04
HUNTING fHE LEOPARD.
AN UNUSUALLY DANGEROUS
A0iATIC SPORT.
~ q
The Asimai Il Cowsrd,y and snnakink.
But when II 10 Cornsred It IL = Had
Bs.st to Fool Wlth-lt Can Hide Ef
fsetually In . Small Place.

fsetunlly In . BmAll Place.
The leopard is, in my opinion.
rather d vulgar animal. It Is vulgar
In two senses. 1t Is very common in
many parts Of Asin and Africa, and
Its general habits are low. cowardly
and sHeakine, is rcdseming quality
is that 1t has considerable beatty OF
form and fur. So, for that matter,
has almost every one OF tho cat tribe.
During . long residence In India l
became tolcraBiy familiar With leop.
ards. l once kept two little cubs
about 3 months old. but when in my
experience hud them washed with
soap and water, to get rid Of their
tleas, they resented the insult and
died.
never really liked lcopards. Mr..
Wood, the naturalist. describes them
as creatures OF almost inoifensive
habits, but enemies to poultry and
fatal to fowls, On tho other hand |
have recently seen an account in an
Indian paper OF leopard that killed
In the course of eighteen months
more thnn 15) human beings. Such
murdorous beast never came with
in my cognizance, though I fear that
the story was true.
AS O rule, a man does not 90 out
leopard-hnntine as he COOS snipo-
shooting or tiger shooting, Usually.
the news is brought by an excited
and affrighted native that a leopard
has entered his premises. and, after
killing his child. or u goat or fowl,
has hid itself In some shed or out
house. On such an appeal 1t is
usual to go out AMI try to kill
that leopard. II a companion can be
found, it is better for two men to go
together. than Tor one iiiad I'd 90
alone with only native followers. Al
most the first case that rcmomber
that the leopard was ensconscd in
mat and thatch cowshed. of which
the door had been closed on him. We
rather rnshly opened tho door in
order to poop in. There was i rusit
and scua alc, rs thc leopard tore the
door open wider and jumped out to
escape. We were lucky in not boins
knocked down or oven scratched.
But the leopard did not get right
away n foolishly entered another
shed. which was promptly closed on
him, md We ha 10 begin aG Tin. Ny
companion climbed on to tho roof
with his gun, and an active native
got up with him to tear open hole
in the thatch OF the roof, stood on
the ground with a clear space before
me, in case the leopard should turn
out in my direction. Tho eager
erowd Of tatiyes who ha como. re-
gardless of danger. was induced 10
retire to dista &C, while the most
nimble OF them climbed up into trees
or onto tho roofs OF the adjacent
huts. 1t takes longer to write this
than to givo an idea OF what actually
happened. The native who was
tearing holo in the tllatch 1t the
shed had rashly tried to look in to
see whore the leopard was. In
moment tho leopard sprang at him,
and its head appeared through the
thatch. My companion put his gun
through its brain sd that ii dropped
dead into the hut.
But there were loud cries from tho
native on the roof, for the bullet,
after passing through the leopard $
skull. had grazed the mans body,
SO that ho was bleeding profusely
and crying out that he was killed.
He was quickly brought down from
the roof of the she'd, and his wound
was washed, and found to be little
moro tnan skin deep A present OF
few rupees soon comforted him,
and he became, not undeservedly.
the hero OF the day among his fell
low villagers. Tho carcass OF tho
leopard was slung from d bamboo
and brought to our house, and the
skin became the property OF my com
panion.
AS rule 1t is best to shoot loop.
ards on foot, tho alternative being
to shoot them from the howdah on
the back OF an elephant. Thore arc
several rea IONS for this, given by
writer in Longman's Magazine. In
tho first place, when man Is on
foot. and can post himself judicious
ly SO as to get clear shot. tho
leopard is more likely to como out.
as 1t is wanted to come. as soon as
the beaters begin to try to drive it,
with their sticks and clubs and
shouts. in tho direction indicated.
Tho leopard comes sneaking out,
half stopping to listen to tho noises
bohind him rr kn NAV dnp,n out ~
full speed, making his way to another
patch OF bushes. My friend, Mr.. +.
b. Slmons, by far tho best shot and
sportsman OF his time in Lower Bon.
gal, has written In his book that he
used to ilatter himself that he used
to put ball psetty near exactly
whore he liked into a leopard from
twenty-five to forty yards distance.
1t was not my fortune to he ablo to
do anything like that
The leopard is not largo animal,
and its vulnerable parts, especially
tho hend and mock, are small. 1t
bounds along very fast, and the paco
is always deceptive. have made
some lucky shots and rolled over
several leopards by bullet just bo
hind tho shoulder. have missed,
or merely slightly wounded. others
Still it is better to bo on foot than
on an elephant have shot lcopards
from an elephant. but my rocollec-
tions of leopards in connection with
tho howdah are not altogether pleas
ant. One day, nfter q long md
weary boat for tigers for several
hours with old Pundit Grant in
Dinagopore, we at last disturbed n
leopard. 1t quickly hid itself, and
with our twelve elephants wo
aaa tchnn fo,. IL Tor rnarlu an hoa,.