e was empty, but after watching for an hour, and when nearly
wearied out, the leopard at last came out of his cave, and began walking
up and down the narrow space.

Just as the animal, in one of his turns, arrived under him, the hunter
fired. The ball struck obliquely, where the spine joins with the head,
and, slanting off, lodged in the brain, death being instantaneous, but
the hunter was nearly overbalanced. Just as he struggled to his knees,
the baboon, with a tremendous spring, lighted right on his shoulders.
The sudden shock destroyed the balance, and clutching at the bushes,
which gave way slowly, one by one, Hughes went over the precipice.

They luckily saved him, but, bruised and shaken, he fell on the ledge,
close to the dead leopard, the lock of the rifle being broken in the
fall. Looking up, he saw the monkey, peering over, and grimacing, for
so nimble was it, that it had not shared the fall. Shaking his fist, in
return for which he received a shower of stones and dirt, Hughes moved
cautiously along the ledge. The leopard was quite dead. A cave lay a
little further on, and as he entered it, he was almost driven back by
the close smell of decaying flesh. It was heaped with bones, and
remains of deer, and must have been used for many years.

The leopard was a male, and the female might be near. Advancing
cautiously, his rifle, only one barrel of which was available, in his
hand, Hughes was astonished by the great extent of the cavern. To the
right, it soon became black as night, and the sound of falling water was
to be heard. This might explain the extreme coldness and clearness of
the streams of Gorongoza, for doubtless they took their rise in the
heart of these mountains, flowing perhaps for miles in darkness among
the caverns. The roof was covered with beautiful white stalactites, but
the eye could not penetrate the thick darkness in this direction. To
the left a kind of corridor led towards an opening giving on the
mountain-side, and towards this Hughes turned, glad to get away from the
fetid exhalations of the cavern. Two hedgehogs were travelling in the
same direction, the quills of which were very curious, being differently
coloured, some white, others black, and some brown, the body, where it
could be seen, entirely black. The animals rolled themselves up
securely, looking just like parti-coloured balls. Emerging into
daylight, and stepping from ledge to ledge, Hughes gained the
mountai