SHOOTING A LEOPARD IN A TREE.
90
1, i. curio,,,, lo observe ll,»l, o„ Inw .l,clvl„g of .l,c
»„,1 „Ll,.-,- , >vl,>T. grows ll,ick, »„d lo ll,c he,gl,l
of «cv™ or oighl wc o,-Jin«,'lly 11,"1 ,„„"l,cr» of leopards, hud, covers
n,uy l„.l..c,l l»"co„sld,.,-o,l as ihelr 1,,-a.l c|„arlcrs, Tlicy seen, as far as I ca„
i „ , k . f,-o„, lo,,.. ol,s,-rvalio„, lo ,„-,.f,.r a„y oli.er kl,„l of cover lo ihe co„„„o„
• L l iu,„k.; a„,l accor>ll„gly we „,ay slale ,vl,l,o„l ,„„.d, fear of eo„r„.al,«„,
lha, lco|.ards sho„l,l l>e soagl.l principally among „nderuoo.ls a,ul,,B=; " l„le
Ihose >vho a,v in seai'cl, of ,'oval ligcrs, sl,o„UI direel iheir ,-cscarcl,es lo grass
„ch spols as have n,ixeil covers, especially where ihc
jiingh.s chlclly ; or
al)o„nils.
I>l.,s<cy was ever famons liolh for llgers and leopards; ihe surrounding
co„ni,T i,lVorde,l choice covers of every desc'iplion. Th,- house lhat forme,ly
.l„„,l on Ihe hank of ihe , iv,n- was ln,ilt by .SVm/oi ZIob/«/', for„,erly ^ahoh
of Bengal, n ho >vas dcfcalcil al Plassey by Lor,l Clive abonl ihc year 17o7.
11 „ as'iulendcl for a linnling-scal, and w as occupii-il l,y Lord Cbvo as his
,p„,r„.,-s for a ,lay or hvo previous lo lhal „,e.„oral,lc viclory, which gave 10
,1,0 H,.ilisb possesion of all the Soulbern p,-ovi„ces of Bengal. The edihcc was
co,u|,lelely in ihe India,, stylo, ,i„d unlil swept away ),y ihe river winch
o„d,n-i„ined ihc hank, il was kept i,i a lolei-dile slale of repair, by the
sueeceding Nabobs of who never refused such European
nllcmcn as a|iplicd fo,- |,i.r„,issiou, lo oecupy ll wlnlc on hunling parlies.
,.rly iho building was neglcclcil altogether, anil all who chose look posscs-
, for Ihe liino. snhing their own eonvcnieiice. There was a h,rge area, of
gen
Lai
sio,i I
perhaps
^ of gTound, enclosed n ilh a wall, and having in front a la,-ge
¡„•dii'd galeivav. \Vilhin Ihis space was once a garden, wiiich, when I first
visiled Plassey,'was kcpl in excellent onlcr, and snpplicd such genlleracn as
passed np or down ihc river, or by land, with good vcgelahles, for which the
gar.lcncr usually ,-eeeived a |.,-esenl, sneb as no doubt in the agg,'egalc very
fully answc-wl ills pur|iose, anil stimulated bi,u lo industry.
Howevc-, when the house hcgan lo decay, and was gradually less resorted to,
|I,0 gai-den began to decline, and nlliinatcly Ijccame a wihlerncss of weeds
and rubbish. The gale was deslroyeil for fuel,
of being serviceable, the place bi'eame the 1,
.John ^iordaunt, about the year 1787, landed IVon, his Imilgrta, as be was proceeding
ivall gave way ; and, in lieu
„1 of wild beasts. Colonel
from Calcutta lo Lncknow, and fonnd a royal tiger asleep in the
vemmiah, or haleony. The Colonel being an exeollenl shot, with his rifle soon
dispatched the brindled visitor. Many have found herds of deer in the garden,
A gcntlcna,! oncc p,'oeeeding in his jialankeen 10 join a regiment al Berhampore,
alighled, and ordered his Ixliigy suHcih to ju-epare bi'eakfasl in Plassey
House ; Iml on entering the garden, a „„„,bcr of spotted deer were seen in a
corner, seemingly in great constcrnalion. On exa„,i„alion, il a|ipcareil llial
their alarn, was occasioned by a leopard which lay concealed nndcr a row of
mhlil), lhat was phuileil as a hedge, but being neglected, h.ad bcco„,c extremely
luxuriant. Notice was given to PAUL, who was at Dau(lj>o
, about .six miles
olf, and who lost no lime in repairing to the spot, provided with evei'y thing
thai might be necessaiy on such occasions.
The noise occasioned by the approach of the elephants caused Ihe leopard to
jump over the garden wall : he had, on finding himself discovered, lain very
close under ihe hedge, refraining fi-oln any atlaek on the dee,-, which no doubt
had attracted him lo ihe spot. The /ope was not fa,- iron, the house, and
was speedily cutc'ed by the leopard, who lo.st no lime in penetrating lo the
inner recesses; whe,-c, followed by a host of eleplninls, which we,-e led lo the
leopa,-d by „ n m e , - o u s d o g s , lhal scented him out, he at lenglh „,onnled
into a man,TO tree. P.AUT. saw hi,,, sealed in the fork foruictl by ihe meeting
of several lai-gc boughs, and levelled al hin, ; but ihe wa,-y animal, keenly
watching PAUL'S ,nolions, crept along a branch which was nea,-ly horizontal,
hiding his body behind it, as „,uch as practicable, till he got towards the exti
cinily, as if w-ilh the intention Lo spring into the next l,-ee. However, PAUL
was not lo be Iricked, but watching his opportnnity while the leopai-d was
peeping over the hough, he shot hi,n between ihe eyes. The leopard gave a
dismal howl, reared almost upright, applied his fore-paws to his head, as it
were in agony, and fell dead 10 the g,-ound ! It w as not easy lo say wd,at passed
between the leopard and ihe yíaría/í.í, w'hich chased hitn before he look into the
tree; among the notes of exultation, some un],leasant tones were occasionally
heard, and one or two of the dogs, which still appeared ve,-y keen in their
endeavours to mouut after the leopard, exhibiled snbslanlial tokens oí ihc
danger they had encountered.
A general ollice,-, who, 1 believe, is now resident in England, bears the
marks of a leopard's fnry very visibly on his countenance. He bad incautiously
fired al a leopard which was discovered in a tree. The animal, enraged by the
wound he. received, spra,,g down and jiinintaiiiecl a very obsliiiaLc coiitosL for
siiperiorily. The General, (then Captain in the Bengal artillery,) -was liai)i)ily
of an Herculean slalure, being about six feet three Indies in licighl, and al least:
proportiojiahly sloul. He was also al lliat lime in ihe vigour of life. A person
less powerful would necessarily have proved ullerly iiicapa])lc of snpporting
himself against so iinwelcome an assault. Whether hope or despair was the
General's friend on ibe occasion, it may be dinieiill to determine; !)iit ^vc may
reasonably snppose one of them, or l)oLh at intervals, lo have had great inlluence
on the occasion. After a violent sli-nggle, in which tlie leopard gave the fiilh-st
demonstration that his nails had not been pared, nor his teeth any-wise decayed,
ihe General's exertions were crowned with .success ; llie leopard, finding hiiuself
very roughly bandied, took an opportunity, when holh parties panted for breath,
to decline farther iioslilities. lie skulked away into the adjoining covers;
leaving the General <lce])ly im])ressed with the opiniou, that persons on foot
should never provoke leopards to attack tiieni.
From all that can be ascertained, leopards have generally from one to five
cubs. They multiply extremely when once they talce ]>osse.s.'»ion of u cover;
r>iiini»a t soii j.». .i^iaos.Vi F.a«?