As the furious animal stood
thus twenty yards before me, I could have fired, but dared not do so,
while the dogs were so far off. However, they soon emerged from the
brake, and rushed forward. A spirited young pup, a little ahead of the
others, was immediately crushed by his paw, and making a few bounds
towards a large tree, he climbed to the height of twenty feet, where he
remained, answering to the cries of the dogs with a growl as loud
as thunder.
I fired, and this time there was no struggle. My ball had penetrated
through the eye to the brain, yet the brute in its death struggle
still clung on.
At last the claws relaxed from their hold, and it fell down a ponderous
mass, terrible still in death.
The sun had already set, and not wishing to lose any time in skinning
the animal, I merely cut off its long tail, which I secured as a trophy
round my waist. My adventures, however, were not yet terminated, for
while I was crossing the short width of cane-brake which was between me
and where the she-panther laid dead, the dogs again gave tongue, and, in
less than three minutes, had tracked another animal. Night was coming on
pretty fast, and I was beginning to be alarmed. Till now I had been
successful, each time having destroyed, with a single ball, a terrible
enemy, whom even the boldest hunters fear to attack alone; but should I
have the same good luck in a third encounter? It was more than I could
expect, especially as the darkness would render it more difficult to
take a certain aim.
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