Our road down to the plain, though not very steep, was fatiguing and wearisome, as the hill-side was here and there cut up by broad _cañons_, which we were compelled to ride round. As we were going down one of these ravines, one of the beautiful leopard-cats, so frequent in these mountains, sprang out of the loose stones not far from us. I sent Trusty after it down the ravine, and ere long he began barking. We hurried on as quickly as we could, and on looking down I saw the beautifully-spotted creature crouching on an isolated rock, while Trusty was leaping round it and barking. It was too far to fire with a certainty of killing, for though Trusty was quite as strong, he might easily be so injured as to be unfitted for the fatigue of our tour. Hence I dismounted, and crept near the stone on which the leopard-cat lay. I went up high enough to see it, and sent a bullet through its head. The rock was too high for me to climb up it and fetch the beast down, so I was obliged to wait till Trusty arrived. I raised him on to the rock, and he pulled the creature down. Then I returned to our cattle, while Tiger stripped the cat and brought me the skin. These handsomely-marked animals are most dangerous to game: they kill, even when quite full, merely for the sake of the blood, and never miss an opportunity to capture their quarry. They creep with incredible skill and certainty, as well as indefatigable patience, up to the game, on which they leap with lightning speed, and do not let it go till it has given them its blood. When wounded or beset, they attack their pursuer with great fury and determination, and many an Indian, under such circumstances, has been severely injured by them. They generally live and hunt in couples, and prefer rocky regions to the plains, but also come down to the woods, where they leap down from the trees on the game, and bite it to death in the neck. Tiger shot two more of these animals before we reached the plain, which took place in the afternoon, and we camped on a stream at an early hour. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XVI. THE BEAR HOLE.