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Show Stifling A Leopard A Queer Way JVali)ef of Orient Ha-Ve of Kitting Kitt-ing Wild -BeaU. A. Female With young Was Stoned Up Ituldt Her Lair In a Ca-Oe and Suffocated Suffo-cated by SmoKe I bad been Hulling for a Iciihc time Without success when n group of natives na-tives Rome dlstanco upntronm on the opposite tank attracted my attention, writes n Calcutta correspondent of trip Pall Mnll Gazette, Tlwy were crouch-Inn crouch-Inn Ht the bottom of n steep lintik cm- THB XATIVKM HAULED T1IK I.KOI'AHD AND 1UH CUB OUT. Ing at ii spot Rome twenty feet higher up. I bad seen two of them the day before leading a little leopard cub by u chain. I had nuked tlieui whnt they wer going to do with the little clumsy, furry creature, no larger than an ordinary ordi-nary rat, for I wished to purchase It and keep It aa a pet. But my hlgheat offer failed to tempt them, and I could not discover whnt they wanted with th cub. With theau men were four othera, all sturdy follow of the cultivator class, clad only In walit cloth and puggaree, and curb of them was armed with a lathi, a heavy bamboo HtatT about five pet long, tipped with a massive brass knob. On the ground waa a great heap of the cake used for fuel. Aa I ' looked ni these I began to have an Inkling of what was to happen. The bank of the stream where wc were Htundlng waa thirty or forty feet high and run Hteeply down to the wa-ter'M wa-ter'M edge. A number of whitened I bones and u few chlnkarn horns were atrewed about the ground, and from a hole half way up tho bank, at whloh the natives were staring Ina . -,une 1 an overpowering Htench, like . k of I the Hon house In the r.ooluglcnl gar-deiiH, gar-deiiH, but many time worse. One of the men. In answer to my (uefitlou, told me that the bole whs the entrance to a cave In which u leopard whloh had for long haunted the neighborhood neigh-borhood hud her hilr. Recently a pair of culm had W'en born, and these men, having watched the mother leave her cave In search of prey, had carried off the cub to be used aa a bait to lure her to destruction, They kept the cubs for thrwi dayB. and then, when the mother must have been desperate at the loss of her offspring, they had watched her go out again and In ber absence had tied up ono of the cubs nt the back of the rave. It waa necessary to do this In order that they might proceed undisturbed with their operations, opera-tions, for they knew that the leopard would never leave the eitve while her cub remained bound within It. As soon as the man whom they left to watch the entrance to the cave reported report-ed that the leopard had returned they set out, armed, aa t have described, with the Intention of Brooking her out They then proceeded to build up the entrance with stones, paying no heed to the continuous low growling from within. In a short time they had quite closed It up, with tbo exception of ouc bole a few Inchex across, and the atone were so tlrmly wedged as to bo quite Immovable, They next brought stiff wet clay from the bed of the stream, with which they proceeded to stop up the chinks and crannies between the stones. After this had been done the dried fuel cakea wero brought up. They set flro to tbem ono by one, and, after Wowing upon them until they wero well alight, they throw them into tho cave through the small nolo they had left These cakes of fuel will go ou smoldering for houm, and they give out n great deal of pungent smoke. After half nn hour or so I suggested that tho smoke must have done IU work. Hut the native would not bear of opViilng the cave so quickly. Their aporUng Instincts were not suMclently dwoloped to allow them to give the leopard the smallest chance of escape. With true oriental patience they squat- -r- - - ted on their hams, passing around an earthenware pipe, from the smell of which I Judged that their tobacco wan largely composed of that same material which they were using to smoke out the leopard. It was fully three hours before they could make up their minds that It would be safe to open the cave, and even then I think they ouly did so In deference to me. When they pulled down the stones with which they had filled up the hole great volumes of smoke einne pouring pour-ing out, rank and arrld. It seemed quite ertnln that nothing could have Hved more than a few minutes In such an atmosphere. None of the natives seemed very nnxlous to go Into the rave, so I volunteered to go In myself. I crawled with difficulty through the narrow entrance, carrying a ropo to haul out tho leopard and her cub. Tho tench within was overpowering, and I attached the rope to the two limp bodies as quickly as I could and bur-rled bur-rled out again, gasping for fresh nlr. With cries of triumph the natives laid hold on the rope and hauled the leopard and her cub out Into the sunshine. sun-shine. She was a fine, handsome beast. Her yellow skin, with Its deep black markings, was sleek and In splendid condition, but the natives lost no time In admiring her appearance. As soon as she appeared they fell upon her with excited cries and belabored her Inanimate body unmercifully with their staves. Finally her pawn were bound and she was slung to a pole, with her cub dangling beside her, and her destroyers marched off with her In triumph to seek the collector und claim from him the reward paid for the destruction de-struction of dangerous beasts. |