Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-19
we'll go home at once, as there is nothing

well go home at once, as there is nothing
to attract the panther.
There are several ways of keeping the kid
awake and lively-all more or less cruel
and all equally useless. The only efecuNe
method is TO have two kids, one to be tied
up under the michan, the other to be left
with two reliable men at some place few
hundred yards away IN the direction from
which the panther is least likely to come.
If only one man is left in charge, he Will
be afraid to remain If there is a panther
about; and if he does not run away he will
probably fall asleep. When kid number one
stops bleating the men with number two
should be quietly whstled up and the kids
changed: and when the fresh kid also goes
to sleep, the original one should be again
tied up. By this means a sportsman can
have kid bleating under his tree from sun
set to sunrise, if he has patience TO wait
so long-which. must confess. never had.
l must have sat up over kids some twenty
TO twenty-five times before l even saw n
panther, but my perseverance was reward
ed at last, and then only after | began to
try the plan of having two kids, plan
which answered exceedingly well. A large
panther had been doing a lot OF mischief
for some months at village some twenty
miles from cantonments, and the local shi-
kari persuaded me to go and try for him.
So. having sent my camp and two Kids on
ahead. ] started late. and reached the VIII
lage about 3 pm. l had a machan rugged
UP not far from the village, and between 1t
and a rather extensive jungle from which
TIE pdIlHti StHci any
/ got into my machan at dusk, and had to
change the kids only once before l heard
the panther grunting in the jungle about
quarter of a mile away. For half an hour
longer | heard nothing of him, and L began
to think he had passed on. But all Of
sudden he came with tremendous rush
from behind me, and lay down beside the
kid. | must have moved too quickly, for
the bedstead Dit was before | used camp
chair creaked, and the panther at once
bolted. He went about fifty yards and lay
down. watching the kid After some ten
minutes he began to crawl very slowly to-
ward my tree, and when he about
twenty yards off he again rushed a the
kid, caught 1t by the neck and tried to make
off with ii. The peg to which the kid was
tied had not been sufficiently hammered
into the ground, and it came out when the
panther snatched away the kid. 1t was
large and heavy, and made such a noise
it bumped against the hard ground that the
panther was startled. dropped the kid and
went off. After going some fifty yards he
lay down and watched the kid for nearly
quarter of an hour. He then began to
crawl toward it, step by step. l was afraid
to let him come too near, for fear he should
make another rush and make off with the
kid before l could get a shot. So, when
he was about twenty yards off. / fired at
his chest-not very large mark to aim at
by moonlight. When l fired he gave a loud
wough, woughi and made off at full speed
before l could get a second shot. could
not find any blood that night next morning
l found few drops, but could see nothing
OF the panther. SO gave MIN up tOSl-
Next day | beat the jungle in the neigh
borhood for spotted deer without success.
and when l had finished the last beat sent
a man to look at a porcupine hole close by
to see if there were any signs of a panther
having entered 1t. He reported that he had
seen a panther at the mouth of the hole
and that it had growled at him and gone
into the burrow. On going to look at the
place myself / found fresh panther foot
prints and good deal of blood so it was
evident that my friend Of the night before
was there. l collected the heaters and
placed them out of harms way and ro-
ceeded to fasten a firework to the end Of
a long bamboo. with a view to boiling the
panther from the burrow. l fancy he must
have heard walking about over his head
for. with a loud roar, he suddenly charged
out of the hole and made straight for a
man who had Jagged behind without my
knowing it. He got up on his hind legs.
placed his paws the mans chest and
back, and tried to bite his face AS it hap
pened. the bullet / fired at him the night
before had broken the beasts right foreleg
half way UP. so that when he seized the
man the broken leg gave way and man and
panther fell to the ground. one on the top
of the other. The panther Immediately left
the man and bolted into some thick jungle. |
l went to the other end of this jungle and
had him driven out by stones thrown from
the hillside above. He came within thirty
yards of me and stood there looking at the
heaters. and / killed him the spot with a
bullet through the shoulders. Except for a
small scratch, the man was quite unhurt |
The panther was a male and measured
seven feet three and one-half inches.