Year: 1872

without powers of defense, for it pos


sesses sharp tusks that will rip up do,


or man as though razor were used.


1t was scarcely worth while TO alarm


any larger animals that might be nea


by firing at these pigs, so we were con


tent to watch them as they turned III


the ground, and fed on the roots the,


got.


Suddenly, without any apparen


cause, two or three of these pigs CAV,


sharp grunt, and ran off into the bush


We thought they had by their power o


scent discovered our proximity to them


but we shortly found their alarm wa


due to a much more dangerous enemy


than man-an enemy whose cunning


was greater than even that of the Oldes


boar among the party, and whose


strength was such that full-grown pig


was compared to him little more than {


rat TO a cat. The animal that caused


the alarm was leopard. Whilst we
werewondering what had caused the sud.


den departure of the pigs, we heard 9


rustling of leaves and branches, a sud.


den rush, n sound as of struggling, 9
sharp squeak or two, and all was quiet


again. We strained our eyes to distin-


guish the forms of the victim and its


slayer, as the two lay half-concealed
among the thick underwood. At length


we made out the form of the leopard,


lying OH the body of the pig. The fe-
rocious animal had adopted its usual
mode of seizing its prey by the back OF
the neck, and had succeeded i'm break
ing the neck of the pig i'm very few
seconds.


Here was creature well worthy OF
our lead, so we quietly changed our po-
sition to bring the gun to bear on the
leopard. Although apparently fully
occupied with its prey, the leopard was
still OIL the alert, for slight as was the
noise we made in moving, he rose quick
ly, glanced upwards, and with a grace
ful bound was ont of sight before we
could pull trigger or eveh take aim.
The pig we knew was dead, so we de-
cided that we would have ham of it
before long. The leopard had scarcely
left its prey half an hour, before
stealthy steps were heard approaching
the dead pig, and soon two hyanas were
busily employed in feasting on it. The
noises we made in the tree alarmed
them, but they were not to be banked
of their feast, for seizing huge piece
of pig, they seampered off to distance
with it. After finishing this piece they
would sneak up to the carcase, lay hold
of fresh piece, and rush off with that.
The hyenas between them nearly fin
ished the pig, the remains were salts
factorily accounted for by some jackals,
and what appeared in the dim light to
be ichneumOns. The latter fought and
squabbled over the bones and scraps
like so many hungry dogs, and by day
light We found scarcely sign of the
wild pig, all that remained of it being
some blood Oh the dry grass where it
had fallen.


1t is surprising the amount of animal
life that moves about by night in wild
country. No one would for II moment
suspect that III his immediate neighbor-
hood there were multitude of crea-
lures which he never saw, unless he
watched for them by night. We have
seen creatures that are very uncommon
roaming about by night in the most
reckless manner. \ few years ago, we
were staying at friends house in this
country, and having seen some strange
signs on his lawn, We watched one
night when the moon gave fair light
in order to see what night wanderers
visited us. Before long We observed
two little dark objects moving on the
lawn and on coming quickly upto them,
we surprised two hedgehogs, creatures
we had not seen by day anywhere near
the lawn. Upon following up the trail,
we found they actually lived in some
cover on the borders of the lawn and
within fifty yards of the house.


At the time we saw the wild pig killed
by the leopard, there was scarcely half
all hour during which several creatures
did not pass our post; but the greatest
excitement occurred just as the day was



Several times during the night we
had heard the sharp crack of broken
branch in the distant forest, and now
and then shrill sharp cry, both Of
which told us that elephants were not
far off. 70 attempt to obtain shot at
them by night would have been too
and unlikely to result in
success, as the underwood in the bush
was so dense that even on bright sun
ny day, objects were scarcely distin-
guishable in the gloom. There was a
probability, however, of these giants of
the forest coming out into the open,
and if so, we might obtain shot at
them from our tree.


1t was not till just before sunrise that
the herd of elephants came near the
tree in which we were concealed, and
then they seemed to scent danger, for
instead of coming boldly forward they
stopped, and blowing through their
trunks, appeared to be carefully scent
ing the air. Whether they really smelt
danger is impossible to say, but they
would not approach nearer to the edge
OF the bush. and we could not obtain a
view of any of them.


After passing a night in tree with
out firing shot, it was impossible to
resist the temptation offered by the
of these elephants, so that
as soon as there was sufficient daylight
for us to see our way, we entered the
dense forest, and endeavored to get a
shot at one of them. We soon found
that our presence was quite well known
to these crafty animals, for they trum-
peted and grumbled as we approached,
and before we expected it, a cow ele-
phant, with calf, charged through the
bush towards us. We had to retreat
with all speed, at one time the vicious
animal being scarcely ten yards from