OXJFORD

INDIA PAPERBACKS

The Man-Eating mm
leopard of Rudraprayag
/>,

A Gift To

Jim Corbet
Lovers

by
Khawar Mahmood

khawar70S@ytihoo.com

JIM

CORBETT

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

OXFORD

CONTENTS

1.

The

Pilgrim

Road

2.

The Man-eater
Terror

4
8

4.

Arrival

22

5.

Investigation

25
30
33

6.

The

First Kill

7.

Locating the Leopard

8.

The Second
Preparations

Kill

36

9.

43 48

0.

Magic

11.

A Near

Escape

51

vi

Contents

12.

The Gin-trap The Hunters Hunted

Retreat

54
63
71

13.

14.

Fishing Interlude

78
88 92

6.

Death of

Goat

17.

Cyanide Poisoning

18.

Touch and Go

99
110
115

19.

Lesson in Caution

20.

A Wild
Vigil

Boar Hunt
a Pine-tree

21.

on

120
131

22.

My

Night of Terror

23;

Leopard Fights Leopard

137

24.

Shot in the Dark

148

25.

Epilogue

163

THE PILGRIM

ROAD

IF

YOU ARE A HINDU FROM

and you desire

the sun-scorched plains of India

as

all

good Hindus do

to perform the pilgrimage to

start

the age-old shrines of

Kedarnath and Badrinath, you must

in

on your

pilgrimage from

Hardwar and,
you

order to acquire a

full

measure of the

merits vouch-safed to

for the correct

performance of the pilgrimage,

you must walk every step of the way from Hardwar to Kedarnath and,
thence, over the

mountain track

to Badrinath, barefoot.
in the sacred Har-ki-pauri

Having purified yourself by immersion

pool,

done darshan

at the

many

shrines and temples in Hardwar, and

added your mite to their

coffers,

you must not omit

to toss a coin widiin

reach of the festering stumps

which once were hands

down
curses

of the lepers

who
for

line the

narrowest part of the pilgrim road above the sacred pool,

this omission, they will call

if

you make
if

on your

head.

What matter

these unfortunate ones have wealth beyond your dreams

call their

secreted in their filthy rags, or in the rock caves they

homes?

The curses of such as they were best avoided, and immunity

but a few coppers.

will cost you.

You have now done

all

that

custom and

religion require of a

good

Hindu and

are at liberty to start

on your long and hard

pilgrimage.

The

Man -Eating Leopard

of

Rudraprayag

The

first

place .of interest

will

you

will

come

to after leaving

Hardwar

is

Rishikesh.

Here you

make your

first

acquaintance with the Kalakamli

Wallahas, so called because of die black blanket their founder

which many of
cloak

his disciples

still

wear

wore

and

in the

form of

habit or loose

bound round the middle with

cord of goat's

hair;
I

renowned throughout the land

for their

good deeds.
will

who are do not know if

and

any of the other religious brotherhoods you

have any claim to renown, but
I

meet on your pilgrimage

do know

that the Kalakamli Wallahas

have such a claim, and justly so, for out of the offerings they receive at
their

many

shrines and temples, they have built

and

they maintain

hospitals, dispensaries,

and pilgrim

shelters,

and they feed the poor and

the needy.

With Rishikesh behind you, you will come next to Lachman Jhula, where the pilgrim road crosses from the right to the left bank of the
Ganges on
a

suspension bridge. Here beware of the red monkeys

who

infest the bridge, for they are

even more importunate than the lepers

of Hardwar, and

if

you omit to propitiate them with offerings of sweets,

is

or parched gram, your passage across the long and narrow bridge
likely to

be both

difficult

and

painful.
left

Three-day's journey up the

reached the ancient capital of

bank of the Ganges and you have

Garhwal Shreenagar

an historic, religious,

and trading centre of considerable importance and of great beauty, nestling m a wide, open valley surrounded "by high mountains. It was here, in the
year 1805, that the forebears of the Garhwali soldiers who have fought so gallandy in two world wars made their last, and unsuccessful, stand against the Gurkha invaders, and it is a matter of great regret to the people of Garhwal that their ancient city of Shreenagar, together with the
palaces of their kings, was

swept away, to the

last stone,

by the bursting

of the
valley

Gohna Lake dam

in 1894.

This dam, caused by

a landslide in the

of the Birehi Ganga, a tributary of the Ganges, was 1 1,000 feet wide at the base, 2,000 feet wide at the summit, and 900 feet high and,

when

water were released in the short space of six hours. So well was the bursting of the dam timed that though the flood devastated the valley of the Ganges right down to Hardwar and
swept away every bridge, only one family was
lost,

it

burst, ten billion cubic feet of

the

members of which

The Pilgrim Road

had returned to the danger-zone after having been forcibly removed

from

it.

From Shreenagar vou have

is

to face a stiff climb to Chatikhal,

will get ot the

which
Ganges

compensated for bv the magnificent views you

and of die eternal snows above Kedarnath.
dav's
its

\allev

A
with

march from Chatikhal and you see

in front

of you Golabrai

row of grass-thatched pilgrim

its

shelters, a

one- roomed stone-built

house, and
is

drinking trough. This big and imposing drinking trough

fed bv a tiny crystal-clear stream which, in

summer,

is

sedately conducted

down

the mountain-side by a series of channels rough- hewn from pine

saplings.

At other seasons of the vear the water cascades unconfined and

merrilv over rocks draped with

moss and maidenhair

fern,

through

luxuriant beds of vivid green watercress and sky-blue strobilanth.es.

A hundred
house above

vards beyond the pilgrim shelters, and on the right-hand

side of die road, stands a

it

mango

tree.

This tree and the two-storied

which

is

the

home

of the pundit,

who owns

the Golabrai
in

pilgrim shelters, are

the tale
I

worthy of note,

for they play

an important part

have to

tell.

Another two miles, along the

last flat bit

of ground you will see for

I,

manv

a day,

and vou have reached Rudrapravag, where you and

my

pilgrim friend,
the left

must

part, for

your way

lies

across the Alaknanda and up

lies

bank of the Mandakini to Kedarnath, while mine

over the

mountains to

my home

in Naini Tal.

The road

in front of you,

which has been trodden by the

is

feet

of

millions of pilgrims like you,

excessively steep
air

and incredibly rough;

level,

and you, whose lungs have never breathed

above sea

who

have

never climbed anything higher than the roof of your house, and
feet

whose

have never trodden anything harder than yielding sand, will suffer

gready.

Times there

will be,

a-many when, gasping

feet torn

for breath,

you

toil

up

the face of steep

mountains on

and bleeding by passage over

rough rocks, sharp shale, and frozen ground,

the prospective
suffering;

when you

will question

whether
in

reward you seek

is

worth the present price you pay

will toil

but being a good Hindu you

is

on, comforting yourself

with the thought that merit

not gained without suffering, and die greater

the suffering in this world, the greater the

reward

in the next.

THE MAN-EATER

'PRWWG'
two
rivers

IS

THE HINDI WORD FOR

confluence" At Riidraprayag.

the Mandakini coming d>jwn from Keciaraath, and the

Abknanda from Badrinath

meet, and from here onwards the

to
all

combined
to

waters of die tvio trvcn, ire

known

Hindus

as

Gangs Mai. and

the rest of the world as the Ganges.

When
eater, it is

an animal, be

it

a leopard or be

it

tiger,

becomes a man-

grim a plate-name

for purposes of identification-

The name

to given to a man-eater does not necessarily imply that the animal began
its

man-eating career
It is

at,

or that al

its kills

were confined
its

to, that particular

place

auite natural that the leopard with started

man-eating career
pilgrim

a small

village

twelve miles from Rudrapra\ag.

on the Kedaraath
its

route, should have

been known for the

rest

of

career as the

Mantigers

eating Leopard of Rudrapravag..

Leopards do not become man-eaters for the same reasons that

do.

Though
t

hate to admit
all

it,

our leopards

graceful of

the animals in our jungles, and

or wounded are second to none in courage

that the)
r,

the most beautiful and ihe

who when

cornered

are scavengers to the extent

wl, when

driven by hunger, eat any dead thing they find in the

just as lions will in the African

bush.

The Man-Eater

The people of Garhwal

The cremation

are Hindus,

and

as

such cremate their dead.

a

invariably takes place

on the bank of
into the

stream or river in

order that the ashes

into the sea.

may be washed down

Ganges and eventually

hills,

As most of the

villages are situated

high up on the

while

the streams of rivers are in

it

many

cases miles

away down

in the valleys,

will

be realized that a funeral

a small

entails a considerable tax

on the man-

power of

community when,

in addition to the carrying party,

labour has to be provided to collect and carry the fuel needed for the
cremation. In normal times these rites are carried out very effectively;

but

when

disease in epidemic

form sweeps through the

be disposed
of,

hills,

and the
which

inhabitants die faster than they can

consists

a very simple
is

rite,

of placing a

live coal in
is

the

mouth of

the deceased,

performed
and
cast

in the village,

and the body

then carried to the edge of the

hill

into the valley below.

A leopard,
dies

in

an area in which

his natural

food
flesh,

is

scarce, finding uiese

bodies, very soon acquires a taste for

human

and when the disease

down and normal

his

conditions are re-established, he, very naturally,

off,

on finding

food-supply cut

takes to killing

human

beings. In the
in

wave of epidemic influenza that swept through the country

1918

and that cost India over

and
it

a million lives,
this

Garhwal suffered very

severely,

was

at the

end of

epidemic that the Garhwal man-eater made

his apprearance.

The
is

first

human

kill

credited to the man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag

at Bainji village

recorded

as

having taken place

on 9 June 1918, and

at

the

last kill for

which the man-eater was responsible took place

April 1926.

Bhainswara

Between these two dates the number of human and twenty-five. kills recorded by Government was one hundred and twenty-five, is While 1 do not think that this figure, of one hundred
village

on 14

our to the extent claimed by Government

at that

officials

who

served in Garhwal

time and by residents

I

in the area in
is

which the man-eater was

not correct, for some
kills

operating,

do know

that the figure given

I

which took place while

records.

been shown was on the ground have not

in die

In crediting the man-eater with fewer

responsible
for,
I

kills

than he was actually

do not wish

to

minimize

in

any way the sufferings

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

endured by the people of Garhwal for eight long years, nor do

to detract in

wish

any way from the reputation of the animals which the

people of Garhwal claim as having been the most famous man-eating

leopard of
all

time.

However, be die number of

claim that this leopard
for he

human

kills

what diey may, Garhwal can

that has ever lived,

was mentioned

was the most publicized animal

to

my

knowledge

in

the press of the United

Kingdom, America, Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Malaya, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and in most of the dailies and weeklies in India.
In addition to this

newspaper

publicity, tales
sixty

of the man-eater were

carried to every part of India

visit

by the

thousand pilgrims

who

annually

the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath.

laid

The procedure
alleged to have

down by Government
by man-eaters
is

in

all

cases of

human

beings

been

killed

for the relatives or friends

of the deceased to lodge a report with the village patwari as soon after the occurrence as possible. On receipt of the report the patwari

proceeds

to the spot,
his arrival

and

if

the body of the victim has not been found before

a

he organizes

search party, and with their aid endeavours to

his arrival,

find the victim. If the

body has been found before

or

if

the

search party finds

satisfied

it,

the patwari holds an inquiry on the spot and

when

genuine kill by a man-eater, and not a case of murder, he gives the relatives permission to remove the remains for cremation or for burial, according to the caste or creed of the victim. The kill is duly recorded in his register against the man-eater operating
it is

that

in

that area,

and

full

report of occurrence

is

submitted to the

administrative head of the districtthe

also keeps a register in

Deputy Commissionerwho
kills

which all the man-eater's the event, however, of the body, or any portion of
as

are recorded. In

it, not being foundsometimes happens, for man-eaters have an annoying habit of carrying the.r victims for long distancesthe case is held over for further inquiry and the man-eater is not credited with the kill. Again, when people are mauled by a man-eater and subsequendy die from their injuries, the man-eater concerned is not credited

with their deaths

The Man-Eater

It

will

thus be seen that though the system adopted for recording

is

the

kills

of man-eaters

as

good

as

it

can be,

it is

possible for
kills

one of

these
is

abnormal animals to be responsible for more human

credited with, especially

than he

finally

when

his

operations extend over a

long period of years.

TERROR

THE WORD 'TERROR'

connection with everyday

IS

SO

generally and universally used in

it is
1

trivial

matters that

apt to

fail

to convey,

when intended
give

to

do

so,- its real

meaning.

should

like therefore to

you some idea of what terror

real terror

meant

to the fifty

thousand inhabitants
in

living in the five

hundred square miles of Garhvval

sixty

which the man-eater was operating, and to the

thousand

pilgrims

who

annually passed through that area between the years 1918

I

and

926.

And

will give

you

few instances to show vou what grounds

the inhabitants, and the pilgrims, had for that terror.

No

curlew order has ever been more

strictly

enforced, and

more

implicitly obeyed, than the

of Rudraprayag.

curfew imposed by the man-eating leopard

During the hours of sunlight

way.

life

in that area carried

on

in a

normal

Men went

long distances to the Iwaars to transact business, or to

visit relatives

outlying villages to

or friends;

women went up

die mountain-

sides to cut grass for thatching or for cattle-fodder; children

went

to

school or into the jungles to graze goats or to collect dry sticks, and,

if it

was summer, pilgrims, either

.singly

or in large numbers, toiled along the

Terror

pilgrim routes

on

their

way

to

and from the sacred shrines of Kedarnath

and Badrinath.

As the sun approached the western horizon and the shadows

lengthened, the behaviour of the entire population of the area underwent
a very

sudden and

a very noticeable change.

Men who

had sauntered

to

the bazaars or to outlying villages

great bundles

were hurrying home;

women

carrying

of grass were stumbling

loitered

down

the steep mountain-sides;

school, or

children

who had

on

their

way from

who were

late in

bringing in their flocks of goats or the dry sticks they had been sent out
to collect,

were being

called

by anxious mothers, and the weary pilgrims

were being urged by any local inhabitant

shelter.

who

passed them to hurry to

When

night came, an

ominous

silence

brooded over the whole area

no movement and no sound anywhere. The entire local population was

behind fast-closed doors and, in

many

cases,

had sought further

protection by building additional doors. Those of the pilgrims

who had
house or

not been fortunate enough to find accommodation inside houses were

huddled close together

shelter,

in pilgrim shelters.

And

all,

whether

in

were
is

silent for fear of attracting the

dread man-eater.
to the pilgrims,

This

what terror meant to the people of Garhwal, and

for eight long years.

I

will

now

give a

few instances to show you what grounds there were

for that terror.

an orphan aged fourteen, was employed to look alter a flock of class, and each untouchable forty goats. He was of the depressed evening when he returned with his charges he was given his food and ground then shut small room with the goats. The room was on the
boy,

into a

floor of a long

row of double-storied

buildings and was immediately below

the

room occupied by

the boy's master, the

owner of the

goats.

To
..ft

prevent the goats crowding in

the far left-hand corner of the

on him
room.

as

he

slept, the

boy had fenced

This

room had no windows and

only one door, and

when

the bo)

and the goats were safely inside, the bov's master pulled the door to, and fastened it by passing the hasp, which was attached by a short

The Mon-Eafing Leopard of Rudraprayag

ength of chain to the door, over the

staple fixed in the lintel.

piece of

wood was
to side of die

then inserted in the staple

in place,

keep the hasp

and on

his

door die

boy, for his better

it.

safety, rolled a

stone against

On

the night the orphan was

gathered to his fathers; his master

asserts the

door was fastened

as usual,

and
''n\

have no reason to question the

truth of his assertion. In support of

it,

the door

showed many deep clawmarks, and

it is

possible

^^-^"^

that in

his

attempts to

claw open the door the

leopard displaced the

piece of

wood
it

that

was keeping the

easy

hasp
for

in place, after

which

would have been

him

to

push die stone aside and enter the room.

Forty goats packed into a small room,

off,
it is

one corner of which was fenced

space to manoeuvre
in,

could not have

left to

left

the intruder

much

and

conjecture whedier die leopard covered die distance from the

door
under

to the boy's

corner of die

room over

the backs of the goats or

all

their bellies, for at this stage

feet.

of the proceedings

the goats must

have been on dieir

It

were best

to

assume that the boy

slept

through

all

the noise die

that

leopard must have

the goats
diat

made when

trying to force

open the door, and

must have made when die leopard had entered die room, and

he did not cry for help to deaf ears, only screened from him and the

danger that menaced him by a thin plank.

After killing the boy in the fenced-off corner, the leopard carried

him

across the
.i

empty room

the goats had escaped into the night

down

strep hillside, and then over

ll

some

terraced fields to a deep boulder-

strewn ravine,

was here,
all

after the sun

had been up
left

few hours, diat

the master found

that the leopard

had

of his servant.

Terror

11

Incredible as
so

it

may seem, not one

of the forty goats had received

much

as a scratch.

neighbour had dropped

in to

spend the period of

a long
it

smoke with
visible

a friend.

The room was L- shaped and

the only door in

was not

from where the two

smoking.
there

men

sat

on the

floor with their backs to the wall,

The door was shut but not

fastened, for

up

to that night

had been no

human
in

kills in

the

village.
it

The room was

hookah to

darkness and the owner of

had

just passed the

his friend

when

it

fell

to the ground, scattering a

shower of

burning charcoal and tobacco. Telling his friend to be more careful or he

would

set the

blanket

on which they were

sitting

on

fire,

the

man

bent

forward to gather up the embers and, as he did

view.

so, the

door came into

it,

A young moon was

near setting and, silhouetted against

the

man saw

a leopard carrying his friend

through the door.

a

'I

When recounting the incident to me am speaking the trudi, sahib, when I

as the intake
sitting

few days

later die

man
friend

said:

tell

you

never heard even so

much
was

of a breath, or any other sound, from

my

who

only an arm's-length from me, either

when

the leopard was

I

killing

him, or

when

it

was carrying him away. There was nothing

waited until the leopard had

could

do

for

my

friend, so

been gone some

the

litde while,

and then

crept

up

to

door and

hastily shut

and secured

it.'

The wife of the headman of a

village

was

ill

from

a fever,

and
in

^{

two friends had been called

to nurse her.

There were two rooms

the house.

in

The outer room had

and

two doors, one opening on to

a

small

flagged courtyard,

the other leading into the iinu-r

room. This outer room also had

a

Barrow

slip

of

window

set

12

The

Man -Eating Leopard

of

Rudraprayag

some

four feet above floor level,

and

in this

window, which was open,

stood a large brass vessel containing drinking-water for the sick

woman.

Except for the one door giving access to the outer room, the inner

room had no other opening in any of its four walls. The door leading out on to the courtyard was
fastened,

shut and securely

and the door between the two rooms was wide open.

The
sick

three

women
in the

in the inner

room were
a

lying

on the ground, the

side of her.

woman

middle with

friend

on either

The

husband

in the outer

room was on

bed on the

side of the

room

nearest

the window, and

into the inner

on the

floor beside his bed,

a lantern,

where

its light

would shine
oil.

room, was

turned

down low

to conserve

Round about midnight, when

asleep, the leopard entered

the occupants of both the rooms were

slip

by way of the narrow

of

window;

avoiding in
nearly filled

some miraculous way knocking over the

it,

brass vessel

which

skirted

round the man's low bed and, entering the inner

room,

killed the sick

woman.

It

was only when the heavy brass

lift its

vessel

crashed to the floor as the leopard attempted to

the

victim through

window

that the sleepers awoke.

When

the lantern had been turned

up the woman who

had been sick was discovered lying huddled up under the

window, and

in

her throat were four great teeth-marks.

neighbour,

whose wife had been one of the nurses on

relating the occurrence to
ill

that night,

when
very

me

said,

'The have

woman was
her.
5

from her
it

fever

and was

likely to

died in any case, so

was fortunate that the leopard selected

*~-

Two

Gujars were moving dieir herd of thirty buffaloes

to another,

from one grazing-ground

and accompanying

them was the twelve-year-old daughter of the older of the two men,

who were
man-eater

brothers. strangers to the locality

They were
or,

and either had not heard of the

which

is

more

probable, thought the buffaloes would give

them

all

the protection they needed.

at

Near the road and

an elevation of eight thousand feet was a narrow

Terror

13

strip

of

flat

ground below which was

in extent,

sickle-shaped terraced

field,

some quarter of an acre

The men selected
jungle

which had long been out of cultivation.

this site for their

camp and
all

having cut stakes from the

which surrounded them on

sides,

they drove

them deep

into

the field and tethered their buffaloes in a long

row
been eaten, the party

After the evening meal prepared by the girl had

of three laid

tiieir

blankets

on

the narrow strip of ground between the

road and the buffaloes and went to sleep.

It

was

a dark night,

and some time towards the

early hours of the

morning the

men were awakened

by the booming of their buffalo-bells

and by the snorting of the frightened animals. Knowing from long

experience that these sounds indicated the presence of carnivora, the

men

lit

lantern and

went among the

buffaloes to quieten them, and to

to the stakes.

see that

none had broken the ropes tethering them

a

The men were absent only

their sleeping-place they

few minutes.
girl

found that the

When they returned to whom they had left asleep

lying

was missing.
ot blood.

On

the blanket

on which she had been

were big splashes

When
narrow

daylight came. the father

and the uncle followed the blood

buffaloes,
it

trail.

After skirting
field

round the row of tethered

and down the steep
kill.

went across the

hillside for a

few yards, to where the

leopard had eaten his

'My brother was born under an unlucky

and he had only this one daughter

star,

sahib, for

he has no son,
shortly,

who was

to have

been married

and to
heir,

whom
now

he looked in the
the leopard has

fullness of

time to provide him with an

eaten her.'

and

come and

could go on and on, for there were

tragic story,

many

kills,

and each one has

its

own

but

think

have said enough to convince you that the

people of Garhwal had ample reason to be terrified of the man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag, especially when it is remembered that Garhwalis
are intensely superstitious

and

that,

added to

their fear of physical contact

with the leopard, was their even greater fear of the supernatural, of

which
I

shall give

you an example.

set

Bungalow out from the small one-roomed Rudraprayag Inspection

14

The Mem-Eerting Leopard of Rudraprayag

one morning

just as

day was breaking, and as

stepped off the veranda

saw in the dust,

where the ground had been worn away by human

feet,

the puo- marks of the man-eater.

The pug- marks were

perfectly fresh

and showed that the leopard

in

had stepped out of the veranda only a few minutes

advance of me, and

from the direction

in

which they were pointing

it

was evident diat the

for the pilgrim

leopard, after his fruidess visit to the bungalow,

was making

road some

fifty

yards away.

Tracking between die bungalow and the road was not possible owing
to the

hard surface of the ground, but as

reached the gate

saw the

pug-marks were heading in the direction of Golabrai.

sheep and goats had gone
the dust they had kicked
as

large flock of

down

the road the previous evening, and in

as clearly

up the leopard's tracks showed up

they would have

I

on

fresh-fallen snow.

had, by dien,

become

quite familiar with the man-eater's pug-

marks and could with

little difficulty

have distinguished them from the

pug-marks of any hundred leopards.

lot

can be learnt from the pUg-marks of carnivora, as for instance

I

the sex, age, and size of the animal.

had examined the pug- marks of

I

the man-eater very carefully the first time

had seen them, and

knew

he was an out-sized male leopard, long past his prime. As

diat
I

followed the tracks of the man-eater

on

this

morning

could see
at

he was only a few minutes ahead of me, and that he was moving
even pace.
road,
in

a slow,

The

which had no
ol a

traffic

on

it

at this early

hour of the morning,

it

wound

and out

number of
this

small ravines, and as

was possible

that the leopard

might on

occasion break his rule of never being out

I

after daylight,

crept round each corner with the utmost care until

left

found,

mile farther on, where the leopard had

the road and gone

up

a great track into

dense scrub and tree jungle.

left

A hundred
small
field, in

yards from where the leopard

the centre of

the road there was a

which was

a thorn enclosure, erected bv the

owner

oi the field to

In this enclosure

encourage packmen to camp there and fertilize it. was the flock of sheep and goats that had come down

the road the previous evening.

Terror

15

The owner of the

been packing trade

who by the looks of him had commodities up and down the pilgrim road for nigh
flock, a

rugged fellow

on half

a century,

was

just
I

removing the thornbush closing the entrance

up. In reply to

to the enclosure

when

came

my

inquiries

he informed

me

that he had seen nothing of the leopard but

that, just as

dawn was
later, a

breaking, his

two sheep-dogs had given tongue and, a few minutes

kakar had barked in the jungle above the road.

When
to tie

asked the old packman

if

he would

sell

me one
I

of his goats,

he asked for

what purpose

it

was wanted; and when

told

him

it

was

up

for the man-eater,

he walked through the opening

in the fence,

replaced the bush, accepted one of

my

cigarettes,

and

sat

down on

rock by the side of the road.

We

remained smoking for

a while,

with

my
I

question

still

unanswered,

and then the

man began

to talk.

'You, sahib, are

undoubtedly he
village
this

whom

have heard
it

tell

of on
that

my
you

way down from

should have

my
all

near Badrinath, and

grieves

me

come

lpng way from your

all

The
is

evil spirit

that

is

responsible for
it is,

the

home on a fruitless errand. human deaths in this area

be
killed

not an animal, as you think

that can

by

ball

or shot, or

by any of the other means that you have tried and that others have tried
before you; and in proof of

what

say

will tell

you
by

a story

while

smoke
as

this

second

cigarette.

The

story was told to

tell

me
a

my

father,

who,

everyone knows, had never been heard to

lie.'

'My father was a young

like

man

then, and

unborn, when an

evil spirit,

the one that

is

now
it

troubling this land,

a leopard.
effort
set,

made

its

appearance in our

village,

and

all

said

was

killed in their

homes and every

Men, women, and children were was made, as has been made here,
sat in trees
kill

to

kill

the animal Traps were

and far-famed marksmen

and when
all

and
it

fired ball
failed,

and shot

at the leopard;

these attempts to

had

a great terror seized the people and

none dared

leave the

shelter

of his

home between
the

the hours of sunset and sunrise.'

father's village,

'And then the

about, bade
all

headmen of my

and of the

villages

round

men

attend a panchayat, and

when

all

were assembled

the panch addressed the

meeting and

said they

were assembled to devise

some

fresh

means

to rid themselves of this man-eating leopard.

Then an

16

Th Man-EoHng Leopard of Rudraprayag

old man, fresh h.u'k from the burning-ghat, whose

grandson had been

killed the previous night, arose

ih.it

and

said

it

was no leopard
killed his

had entered
lay

hi.s

house and

grandson as he

asleep

by Ins side, hut one from

5j

among their own community who, when he craved for human flesh and blood, assumed the
semblance of
cull h' a leopard, killed

f>"A h
'

and that such

,i

1/

\ onv

n t he

by the methods

already tried,

as

had been amply

proved, and eould only be killed by

lire.

His suspicions, he
fal

said,
in

fell

on

the

sadlw

who

lived

the hut

near the ruined temple.'

'At

this

there

was

a great

uproar,

some exclaiming

that

the old

m an's
at

sorrow

at the loss
right.

of his grandson hail demented him; others

these later recalled that the sadhu had arrived
it

averring he was

And

die village at about the time the killings had started, and

was further

recalled that

on the day succeeding on

his

a killing die jodAu

had been wont to

sleep

all

day, stretched

bed

in

the sun.'

'When order had been

restored the matter was long debated and die

panshayat eventually decided that

no immediate action would be taken,

but that die sudhu's movements should in future be watched,

The assembled
its

men wexe
place at

then divided into three parties, die

kill

first

party to start
kills

watch

from the night the next

could be expected; for the

had taken

more or

less regular intervals.'

first

'During the nights the

and the second parlies were on watch,

the sadku did not leave his hut.'

'My
up

father

was with the third

party,

and

at nightfall

he

silently

look

Soon after, the door of the hut slowly opened, and the sadlw emerged and vanished into the night Some hours later an agonized
his position. air from the direction of a chatcoal-burnar's hut far up the mountainside, and thereafter there

scream came floating down on die night

was

silence.'

'No man of my

father's party closed an eye that night,

and

as the

Terror

grey

dawn was being born

hands and
his

in the east they

saw the sadhu hurrying home,

blood.'

and his

mouth were dripping

to

'When

the sadhu had gone inside his hut and had closed the door,

the watchers
the

went up

it,

and fastened
it

it

from the outside by passing

lintel.

chain that was dangling from

over the staple in the

a big

Then

they went

each to his haystack

and returned with

bundle of straw,

and when the sun rose that morning there was nothing but smouldering
ash

where the hut had been. From that day the

'Suspicion has not yet fallen

killing stopped.'

on any one of the many

in

sadhus in these

parts,

but

when

it

does the method employed

tiiat

my

father's

time

will

be adopted in mine, and until

day comes, the people of Garhwal

must

suffer.'
if I will sell

'You have asked

for
I

you
if,

a goat.

will

not

sell

you
you
I

a goat, sahib,
still

have none to spare. But

tie

after hearing
is

my

story,

want an
lend you

animal to

up

for

what you think

it is

a man-eating leopard,

will

one of
killed

my

sheep. If

killed

you

shall

pay

me

its

price,

and
I

if it is

not

no money
at

shall pass

between

us.

Today and tonight

I

rest here,

and tomorrow

the rising of the Bhootia star

I

must be on

my

way.'

Near sundown that evening

returned to the thorn enclosure and

my packman
which
I

friend very cheerfully let

me

select

from

his flock a fat

sheep

considered was heavy enough to give the leopard two nights'

sheep
I

feed. This

tied in the scrub jungle close to the path

up which

the

leopard had gone

some
1

twelve hours

earlier.
I

Next morning
the pug- marks

was up betimes. As

left

the bungalow

again saw

of the man-eater where he had stepped off the veranda, and at the gate I found he had come up the road from the direction of Golabrai, and, after calling at the bungalow, had gone away towards the Rudraprayag bazaar.

The
that

fact that

the leopard was trying to secure a

I

human

kill

was proof
I

he had no interest in the sheep

had provided for him, and

was

of the therefore not surprised to find that he had not eaten any portion shortly after I had tied it up. sheep

which he had apparently

killed

money,' 'Go back to your home, sahib, and save your time and your was the parting advice of the old packman as he whistled to his flock,

and headed

down

the road for Hardwar.

The Man-Gating Leopard of Rudraprayag

parallel case, happily

without as tragic an ending, occurred a few

years previously near Rudraprayag.

Incensed at the killing of their relatives and friends, and convinced

that a

human being was

wreak

responsible for their deaths, an angry crowd of

men

seized an unfortunate sadhu of Kothgi village, Dasjulapatty, but before

their vengeance

they were able to

on him

Philip

Mason, then Deputy

Commissioner of Garhwal, who was camping

the scene. Seeing the

in the vicinity, arrived a

on

temper of the crowd, and being

had no doubt that the

man

of great

experience,

Mason

said he

real culprit

had been
that

apprehended but that before the sadhu was lynched

his guilt

justice

demanded

should be established. To this end he suggested that the sadhu

should be placed under arrest and closely guarded, night and day. To this
suggestion the
sadhu

crowd agreed, and

for seven days

and seven nights the

watched by the

was

carefully

guarded by the police, and

as carefully

populace.

On

the eighth morning,

when

the guard and the watchers were

being changed, word was brought that a house in a village

some

miles
off.

away had been broken into the previous night, and a

man

carried

The populace

raised

no objection to the sadhu being released

that day,

contenting themselves by saying that

on

this

occasion the wrong

man
in

had been apprehended, but that next time no mistake would be made.
In Garhwal
all

kills

by man-eaters are attributed to sadhus, and

all

Naini Tal and Almora districts

such

kills

are attributed to the Bokhsars,

who
hills

dwell in the unhealthy belt of grass at the foot of the

called the Terai, living chiefly

on game.
kill

The

sadhus are believed to

flesh

for the lust of

human

and blood, and the Bokhsars are

for the jewellery their victims are

believed to

kill

wearing, or for other valuables they have on their

person,

More women

than

men

have been killed

districts,

by man-eaters in Naini Tal and Almora

but for this there

is

a better reason than the

one

given.

have lived too long

in

silent

places to be

imaginative.

Even so there were times a-manv

I

during the months

spent at Rudraprayag sitting

Terror

19

night after night

on one
when
I

occasion for twenty-eight nights in succession

villages,

watching bridges, or cross-roads, or approaches to

or

or over animal
big, lightI

human

kills,

coloured animal

could imagine the man-eater

as

being a

for so he had appeared to

me

the

first

time diat

saw

him

with the body of a leopard and the head of a fiend.

fiend

who, while watching

me

dirough the long night hours, rocked

and rolled with silent fiendish laughter at

my

vain attempts to outwit

him, and licked his lips in anticipation of the time when, finding

me

off

my guard
waiting

for

one brief moment, he would get the opportunity he was

for,

of burying his teeth in

my

throat.

It

may be asked what the Government was doing

Government, but
I

all
I

the years the

Rudraprayag man-eater menaced the people of Garhwal.

for the

hold no brief

after having spent ten

weeks on the ground,

visited

during which time

walked many hundreds of miles and

I

most

of the villages in die affected area,

assert that the

Government did
offered:

everything in

its

power

to

remove the menace. Rewards were

the local population believed they

amounted

to ten thousand rupees in

cash and the gift of

two

villages, sufficient

inducement to make each

one of the four thousand licensed gun-holders of Garhwal a prospective

slayer

of the man-eater. Picked

shikaris
if

were employed on
were

liberal

wages

and were promised special rewards

than three
in force
eater.

their efforts

successful.

More

hundred

special

gun

licences over
specific

and above the four thousand

were granted for the

purpose of shooting the man-

Men

of the Garhwal Regiments stationed in Lansdowne were

rifles

permitted to take their

with them

when going home on

officers.
assist in the

leave,

or

were provided with sporting arms by dieir

through the press to sportsmen
oi die
all

Appeals were made

destruction

over India to

leopard. Scores of traps of the drop-door type, with goats as bait,

villages

were erected on approaches to

man-eater. Patwaris

and on roads frequented by the

officials
kills,

and other Government

were supplied with

last
all

poison for the purpose of poisoning

human

and,

but not

least,

Government

servants, often at great personal risk, spent

the time they

CQuid spare from their official

duties in pursuit of the man-eater.

The
sl

total results

from

all

these

many ami combined

efforts

were

'ght

gunshot

wound which

creased the pad of the leopard's

left

hind

20
foot

The Man- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

and shot away a small piece of skin from one of

its

toes,

and an

entrv in

Government records by the Deputy Commissioner of Garhwal

from suffering any
by,
ill

that, so far

effects, the

leopard appeared to thrive

on, and be stimulated

the poison he absorbed via

in a

human

kills.

Three interesting incidents are recorded

and
I

Government report

will

summarize them here.

response to the press appeal to sportsmen, two young British

First: In

officers arrived at

Rudraprayag

in

1921 with the avowed object of shooting

the man-eater.

What

reason they had for thinking that the leopard crossed

river

from bank to bank of the Alaknanda

bridge
I

by the Rudraprayag suspension

their efforts to

do not know; anyway they decided to confine

and shoot the leopard
as
it

this bridge

was crossing

at night.

There

are

towers

at

each end of the bridge to carry the suspending cables, so one

left

of the young sportsmen sat on the tower on the

bank of the

river,

and

his

companion

sat

on the tower on the

right bank.

After they had been sitting for two

months on these towers, the man

on the

left

bank saw the leopard walk out on to the bridge from the
until the leopard

archway below him. Waiting

bridge, he fired,
right

had got well on

to the

and

as

it

dashes across, the

man on

the tower on the

it.

bank emptied the

six

chambers of

his revolver at
hill

Next morning

blood was found on the bridge and on the

gone, and as
it

up which the leopard had

fatal,

was thought that the wound, or wounds, would be

search was kept up for

many

days.

The report goes on

kill

to say that for six

months
I

after

it

was wounded the leopard did not

by

any

human
animal.

beings.
shots,
It

was

told about this incident

men who

had heard the seven

and who had assisted

in trying to recover the

wounded

was

thought by the two sportsmen, and also by

my

informants, that the leopard

in the

had been

hit in the

back by the

first bullet
it

and possibly

head by

some of

the subsequent bullets, and

was

for this reason that a diligent

and prolonged search had been made for ft From the particulars given me of the blood trail I was of opinion that the sportsmen were wrong in
thinking that they had inflicted a body and head
for the

wound on

the leopard,

could only have been made by a foot wound, and I was very gratified to find later that my deductions the were correct and that the bullet fired by the man on the tower on

blood

trail as

described to

me

Terror

21

left

bank had only creased the pad of the leopard's

a portion ol
all

left

hind foot and

right

shot away

one of

its

toes,

and that the man on the

bank had missed

Second: After

his shots.

some twenty

leopards had been caught and killed in traps

of the drop-door type, a leopard

eater

which everyone thought was the manand

as the

was caught

in

one of these

traps;

Hindu population were

unwilling to

kill it

for fear the spirits of the people

whom

the man-eater
for.

had killed would torment them, an Indian Christian was sent

Christian

This
arrive

was

living in a village thirty miles away,

its

and before he could

on the scene, the leopard had dug

Third: After killing a
isolated patch

way out of

the trap, and escaped.

kill

man

the leopard lay up widi his

in a small

of jungle. Next morning,

when

search was being

made

for

the victim, the leopard

it

was detected leaving the

jungle. After a short chase

was seen to enter a cave, the moudi of which was promptiy closed

with thornbushes heaped over with big rocks. Every day a growing crowd
of

men

visited the spot.

On

the fifth day,

is

when some

five

hundred were

assembled, a
as 'a

man whose name

not given but

whom

the report described

man
is

of influence' came, and, to quote the report, 'said scornfully

in this cave"

"there

no leopard

and took the thorns off the

cave.

As he

took the thorns up, the leopard suddenly rushed out of the cave and

made

his

way

safely

through a crowd of some

five

hundred persons who

had gathered there.'

These incidents took place shortly after the leopard had become a
man-eater, and had the leopard been killed
trap,

on the

bridge, shot in the

or sealed up in the cave, several hundred people need not have

died,

and Garhwal would have been saved many years of

suffering.

ARRIVAL

IT

WAS DURING ONE OF

I

the intervals of Gilbert and Sullivan's Yeomen

at the Chalet

of the

Guard, which was showing

first

Theatre in Naini Tal in

192S, that
I

had any

definite

news of the Rudraprayag man-eater.

was
a

had heard

casually that there

man-Earing leopard

in

Garhwal

and had read

there

articles in the press

about the animal, but knowing that

in

were over four thousand licensed gun-holders

Garhwal, and

host of keen sportsmen in Lansdowne, only

some
falling

seventy miles from

Rudraprayag,

imagined that people were

over each other in

their eagerness to shoot the leopard

and that

a stranger

under these

circumstances would not be welcome.

It

was with no

litde surprise therefore that, as

I

stood

at

the Chalet

bar that night having a drink with a friend,

heard Michael

Keene then

Chief Secretary to the Government of the United Provinces and later

Governor of Assam
trying to persuade

telling a

group of
it.

men

about the man-eater and

them

to go after

His appeal, judging from the

remark of one of the group, and endorsed by the others, was not received
with any enthusiasm.
killed a

The remark was, 'Go

life!'

after a

man-eater that has

hundred people? Not on your

I

Next morning

paid Michael Keene a

visit

and got

all

the particulars

Arrival

23

wanted.

He was

not able to

tell

me
I

exactly

where the man-eater was

in

operating,

and suggested

my

going to Rudraprayag and getting

touch

with Ihbotson.

On my
Sir

return

home

found a

letter

from Ibbotson on

my

table.

Ibbotson now
Governor
of the

William Ibbotson, and

lately

United Provinces

Adviser to the
to

had very recently been posted

his first acts
in this

Garhwal as Deputy Commissioner, and one of

try to rid his district

had been

to

of the man-eater.

It

was

connection that he

had written to me.

My

preparations were soon made, and by travelling via Ranikhet,

I

Adbadri, and Karanprayag,

road Inspection

arrived

on the evening of

the tenth day

I

at a

Bungalow near Nagrasu.

When

leaving Naini Tal

a permit to

did
this

not

know

it

was necessary to arm myself with

occupy

bungalow; and as the caretaker had orders not to allow anyone to occupy
it

unless so
toiled

armed, the
for another

six

Garhwalis carrying

my

kit,

my

servant, and
until

on

two miles down the Rudraprayag road

we
and

found a suitable place on which to

camp

for the night.

sticks,

While

my men

busied themselves getting water and dry

I

my

servant collected stones for a cooking-place,

picked up an axe and

to protect us during

went to cut

down thornbushes

to

make an enclosure

the night, for

we had been warned

ten miles farther up the road diat

we had entered the man-eater's

Shortly after the fires to
agitated call

territory
lit,

cook our evening meal had been

a very

came down

to us from a village far

in the

up

die mountain-side,
if

asking us

what we were doing out

open, and warning us that

we remained where we were one or more of us would

by the man-eater.
to

surely be killed

When

the

do which he had possibly

Singh,

good Samaritan had delivered his warning, dark taken a great risk for it was then
1

Madho
all

whom

you have met elsewhere,

expressed the wishes of

is

present

when he

said,

'We
it

will stay here, sahib, for diere

all

sufficient
rifle.'

"'1

tin-

lantern to keep

alight
in

night,

and you have your

it

There was sufficient

1

oil
I

the lantern to keep

in the

alight

all

night, for
rifle

found

it

burning when

awoke

morning, and

my

loaded

See Tin-

Chowgarh

Tigers' in Man-eaten

<>/

Kumoon.

TS* Mon-iahng Leopard of Rudraprayog

SS

nav

bed. But the thorn enclosure was \er\

1

tlimsv

And we

dead tired after our ten days march, and

night he

it*

the leopard had paid

eas) victim.
a

us

a visit that

would have secured

ven

Next da\
hv the

we

arrived at Rudraprayag and

were given
us.

warm welcome

men whom

Ihbotson had instructed to meet

NVESTIGATION

SHALL NOT ATTEMPT TO GIVE

during the ten weeks
lapse
I

you
at

day-bj daj account of

it

my

activities

spent

Rudraprayag, for

would be
li

difficult after this

it

of time

to write
I

such an account and,

written,
a

would be boring for you

in read.

shall

confine myself to relating

al

few of

my

experiences, sometimes while alone and

so
I

othei

times

in

company with (bbotson. Hut before doing

for ten weeks.
hill

should

like to give

you

some idea of the country over which the leopard ranged

.mil
in

for eight years,

which
1

hunted him
to

If

you were

climb the

to the east of
five

Rudraprayag you would be

able to see
thai

Ae
...

greater portion of the

hundred square miles ofcountr)

over. This area
river,
it

the

Rudraprayag man-eater ranged

less

is

divided into
artei

two more

equal parts by the Alaknanda

which,

passing

Karanprayag, flows south to Rudraprayag, where

is

met

b) the

Mandaldni

coming down from the north-west The triangular

the

hit ol

countr) between
left

two

rivers

is

less

the steep than the country along

bank

oi

th

Alaknanda, and there are consequent!)

than
in

more

vfflages in the

former area

the lattei

From you. elevated

up
as a aeries oi

shows in the distance position, the cultivated land

lines

drawn across the

mountains. face ol the steep

These

lines are terraced fields

which vary

in

width from

yard

to, in

some

cases, fifty or

more

yards.

The

village buildings,

you

will note, are

is

invariably set at the

upper end of the cultivated

land; this

done with

the object ol overlooking and protecting the cultivation from stray cattie

and wild animals, for except

fences round the fields.

in very rare cases there are

no hedges or

The brown and

the green patches that

make up

most of the landscape

the villages,

are, respectively, grassland

and

forests.

Some

of

you

will

observe, are entirely surrounded by grasslands, while

others are entirely surrounded by forests.

The whole
is

country, as you look

down on
ravines

it,

is

rugged and rough, and

cliffs.

cut

up by innumerable deep

two roads, one starting from Rudrapravag and going up to Kedarnath, and the other the main
pilgrim road to Badrinath. Both roads, up to the time
I

and rock

In this area there are onlv

am

writing about,

were narrow and rough and had never had

wheel of any kind on them.

L
I

The number of human

on page 27.
It

beings killed between

and 1926

is

shown

would be reasonable to assume that more human beings would

been
killed
in

villages

surrounded by

forests

than

in

villa

the man-eater been a tiger this would undoubted!) have been the case, but to a man-eating leopard, which onk

surrounded In cultivated land.

Had

THE MAN-EATING LEOPARD OF RUDRAPRAYAG

CASUALTY LIST
Six kills

(by villages),

1918-1926

CHOPRA
Five kills

KOTHKI, RATAURA Four

kills

BIJRAKOT
Three
kills

NAKOT, GANDHARI, KOKHANDI, DADO LI, QUETHI, JHIRMOLI

GOLABRAI, LAMERI

Two kilh
BAJADU, RAMPUR, MA1KOTI, CHHATOU, KOTI, MADOLA, RAUTA,

KANDE

(jOGl),

BAWRUN,

SARI,

RANAU, FUNAR, TILANf,

BAUNTHA, NAGRASU, GWAR, MARWARA

One

kill

ASON, PILU, BHAUNSAL, MANGU,

BA1NJI,

BHATWARI, KHAMOU,

SWANRI, PHALSl, KANDA DHARKDT, DANGI, GUNAUN, BHATGAON,

BAWAL, BARS1L, BHAINSGAON, NARI, SANDAR, TAMEND,

KHATYANA, SEOPURI, SAN, SYUND, KAMERA, DARMARI, DHAMKA
BELA, BELA-KUND, SAUR, BHAINSARI, BAJNU, QUIU, DHARKOT,

BHAINGAON, CHHINKA, DHUNG, KIURI, BAMAN KANDA1,

POKHTA, THAPALGAON, BANSU, NAG, BAISANI, RUDRAPRAYAG,

GWAR, KALNA, BHUNKA, KAMERA,

SAIL, PABO,

BHAINSWARA

ANNUAL TOTALS
1918 1919 1920
1921
1

6 23

1922 1923 1924 1925 1926

24 26 20
8

14

TE

A_

28

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

operates at night, the presence or absence of cover makes no difference,

and the only reason why there were more

another was
due, in the

kills

in

one

village

than

in

one

case, to lack

of precautions, and

in the

other, to the observance of them.

I

have mentioned that the man-eater was an out-sized male leopard

long past his prime, but though he was old he was enormously strong.

The

ability

of carnivora to carry their

kills

to a place

where thev can

feed undisturbed determines, to a great extent, the place they choose

to for

do

their killing.

To the Rudraprayag man-eater

all

places were alike,

he was capable of carrying the heaviest of his human victims for

distances

up
I

to

on

one occasion that

know

of

four miles.
in

On
his

the

occasion

refer to the leopard killed a fully

grown man

own

house and carried his victim for two miles up the steep slope of

a well-

wooded

hill,

and down the

far side for

another two miles through dense

kill

scrub jungle. This was done for no apparent reason, for the

had

taken place in the early hours of the night and the leopard had not

been followed up

until-

noon of the next

day.

Leopards

other than man-eaters

are the

most

easily killed

of

all

animals in our jungles, for they have no sense of smell.

More methods
in killing

are

employed

in killing leopards than are

employed

any other animal. These methods vary according to whether the

being killed for sport, or for
profit.

leopard

is

The most

exciting,

and the

most

interesting,

method of

killing leopards for sport is to track

them

down
The

in the jungles and,

when
cruel,

they are located, stalk and shoot them.

easiest,

and the most

method of

killing leopards for profit is

to insert a small

and very highly explosive

killed

which are been

by a leopard.

bomb in the flesh of an animal Many villagers have learnt to make

in contact with the leopard's
off.

these bombs, and

teeth, in
it

when one of them comes

explodes and blows the leopard's jaws

cases,

Death

is

instantaneous

some

but more often than not the unfortunate animal crawls

away to die a lingering and very painful death, for the people who use the

bombs have not

to dispatch
it.

the courage to follow the blood

trail left

by the leopard

Investigation

29

The

tracking, locating,
is

and interesting,

and stalking of leopards, besides being exciting comparatively easy. For leopards have tender pads
as far as possible; they are not
in the jungle assists

and keep to footpaths and game tracks

hard to locate, for practically every bird and animal

the hunter;

and they are easy to

stalk, for,

though they are blessed with

very keen sight and hearing, they are handicapped by having no sense

of smell.

The sportsman can

therefore select the line of approach that

best suits him, irrespective of the direction in

which the wind

is

blowing.
is

Having tracked, located, and stalked

got from pressing the button of a
the trigger of a
rifle.
is

a leopard, far
is

more

pleasure

camera than

ever got from pressing

for

In the

one case the leopard can be watched

hours, and there

to watch.

no more

graceful and interesting animal in the jungles

The button

ot the

camera can be pressed

its

as fancy dictates to

make a record which never loses

glimpse,

interest. In the other case a fleeting

one press of the

trigger,

and

if

the aim has been true

its

the

acquisition of a trophy

which soon

loses

both

beauty and

its

interest.

>v

JYWO*

*io"

H?'

THE FIRST KILL

&

SHORTLY BEFORE MY ARRIVAL AT

organized a beat which
lives
if it

Rudraprayag, Ibbotson had

had been successful would have saved the

of fifteen
it,

human

beings.

The

beat,

and the circumstances leading

up

to

are worthy of record.

toiling

Twenty pilgrims

up the road

to Badrinath arrived towards

evening at a small roadside shop. After the shopkeeper had met their

wants he urged them to be on their way, telling them there was only just
sufficient daylight left for

them

to reach the pilgrim shelters four miles

safe shelter.

farther

up the road, where they would get food and

The
a

pilgrims were unwilling to accept this advice; they said they

had done

long march that day and were too tired to walk another four miles, and
that
all

they wanted were

facilities

to prepare

and cook

their evening

meal, and permission to sleep on the platform adjoining the shop. To

this proposal the

shopkeeper vigorously objected.

visited

He

told the pilgrims

that his

house was frequendy

by the man-eater, and that to sleep

out

in the

open would be to court death.

at its hei^it a sadhu

While the argument was

to Badrinath arrived
pilgrims.

on

his

way from Mathura

on the scene and championed the cause of the

shopkeeper would give shelter to the

He

said that if the

women

The

First Kill

ai

of the party he would sleep leopard

it

on the platform with the men, and

man-eater or otherwise
it

if

any

dared to molest them he would take

by the mouth and tear

in half.

To
ten

this

proposal the shopkeeper had perforce to agree. So while the of the party took shelter in the one- roomed shop behind a

women

locked door, the ten

sadhu in the middle.

men

lay

down

in a

row on the

platform, with the

When
sheet he

the pilgrims

on the platform awoke

in the

morning they found

rumpled, and the

the sadhu missing, the blanket

on which he had

slept

had used to cover himself with

partly dragged off the platform

and spotted with blood. At the sound of the men's excited chattering the

shopkeeper opened the door, and

at a glance

saw what had happened.

When
a

the sun had risen, the shopkeeper, accompanied by the men,

trail

followed the blood

down

the

hill

and across three terraced

wall,

fields, to

low boundary

wall; here,

King across the

with the lower portion

of his

body eaten away, they found the

at

sadhu.
at this time, trying to get in
kills

Ibbotson was staying

Rudraprayag

touch with the man-eater. There had been no

during his

stay,

so

he decided to beat, on spec, a very

side

likely

looking bit of cover, on the far

of the Alaknanda, which the locals suspected was used by the man-

eater as a lying-up place

during the hours of daylight. So while the twenty

little

pilgrims

were

toiling

up the road towards the

shop, the patwaris

and other
villages

members of

Ibbotson's staff were going round the near-by

warning

men

to be ready for the beat which was to take place

on

the

morrow.
After an early breakfast next

wife

and

a friend

whose name

morning Ibbotson accompanied by his have forgotten, and followed by some

beaters, crossed die Alaknanda by

members of

his staff

and two hundred

the suspension bridge,

went up the

hill

on

the far side for a mile or so,

and took up positions for the beat.

While the beat was

the killing of the sadhu.

still

in progress,

word was brought by runner of

was completed and
a

The

beat,

which proved to be

a blank,

hurried

council held, the upshot of

which was

that Ibbotson, his party,

and the

two hundred beaters cross the set off up the right bank, to

river four

32

Th Man-fating Leopard of RudVaprayag

miles farther up by a swing bridge, to

make

their

way back along the

left

bank to the scene of the

to collect as

kill,

while the staff dispersed over the countryside

many men

as possible

and assemble them

at the shop.

By

late

afternoon two thousand beaters and several additional guns

hill

had gathered, and the high rugged

top to bottom.
If

above the shop was beaten from

is

you know Ibbotson, there

no need
and

for

me

to tell

you that the heal was very

out,

efficiently organized,
it

as efficient!) carried

and the only reason why

riot

failed in its object

was that the leopard

was

in that area.
a

When
Open,
in

leopard, or

a
it

tiger, leaves
is

of his

own

accord

kill

in

the

an exposed spot,
kill.

an indication that the animal has no further

it

interest in the

After

its

\va\

invariably

removes

itself to 9 distance,

maybe only two Or three

distance ol ten or

miles, or in the case miles.

of man-eaters, maybe to

it is quite possible that, while the hill was being beaten, the man-eater was peacefiiDjf .slumbering ten miles away

more

So

LOCATING THE LEOPARD

MAN-EATING LEOPARDS ARE OF RARE

reason very
little is

occurrence, and for

this

known about them.

My own
though
diet
tiger,
I

experience of these animals was very limited, amounting to

no more than a brief encounter with one many years previously, and
suspected that the change-over from animal to human-and-animal
affect the habits of a leopard as

would
I

much

as

it

does those

of a

did not
I

know

to

what extent
kill

a leopard's habits

would change, and

meanwhile

decided to try to
killing leopards.

the man-eater by the methods usually

employed for

The most common method of

either over a kill

killing leopards

is

to

sit

up

for

them,

or over

live bait in the

form of

a goat or a sheep.

To

carry out either

find a
kill,

one of these methods

in the

it is

necessary in the one case to

and

other to locate the quarry.

to prevent further object in going to Rudraprayag was to try for another human loss of human life, and I had no intention of waiting obvious thing to do was kill to occur over which I could sit, therefore the

My

to locate the

man-eater and shoot

difficulty,

it
I

over

live bait.

Here a formidable
presented
itself.

which
1

hoped

in

time partly to overcome,

I

From

the

maps

had been supplied with

found that

34

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

the man-eater
miles. Five
a

hundred square hundred square miles of country anywhere would have

live
I

was operating over an area of roughly

considerable area

in

which to

find

and shoot any animal, and

in this

mountainous and rugged part of Garhwal die task of finding an animal diat only operated at night appeared, at first glance, to be well-nigh
impossible
into
It

until

took the Alaknanda

river,

which divided the area

two more or

less

equal parts, into consideration.

was generally believed that the Alaknanda offered no obstacle to the man-eater and that when he found it difficult to obtain a human kill

on one bank, he crossed over

I

to the other bank, by

swimming

the

river.

discounted

this belief.

No

leopard
itself to

in

my

opinion would under any

circumstances voluntarily commit

the swift-flowing, ice-cold waters

of the Alaknanda, and

was convinced that when the man-eater crossed

by one of the suspension bridges.

from one bank

to the other he did so

in the area, one at Rudraprayag, and the other about twelve miles farther up the river, at Chatwapipal. Between these two bridges there was a swing bridge the one by which

There were two suspension bridges

Ibbotson, his party, and the two hundred

men

had crossed the river on

no animal excepting a rat could possibly have crossed, was the most fear-compelling structure of its kind that I have ever seen. The two rand-twisted grass cables, blackened by age and mouldy from the mists rising from the river,
spanned some

die day of the beat. This swing bridge, which

two hundred

feet

of ioaming white water which,

a roar like

hundred yards

farther

down, surged with

a kakar, driven

thunder between two walls of rock, where

by wild dogs, is credited with having leapt across the Alaknanda. Between the cables, and forming the footway, were odd nl sticks an inch and a half to two inches in diameter set about two apart and loosely tied to the cables with wisps of grass. To add to the
1 I

difficulty in crossing this

cobweb

structure,

one of the cables had sagged,

to place one's
I

with
at

tin-

result that the sticks

d

on which one had

fe.

w
ol

an angle of forty-five
>olish

The
mj

first

time

met

this

fearsome jhula

enough

to ask the toll-collector,

who

for the

paymenl

""tted
II

me
I

to risk

life

oa it, whether
In-

the bridge

was ever

'"'

^paired.
brii

Ms answer, given as

ran a speculative eye over me,

thaMl "'

never tested or repaired but was replaced

when

it

Locating the Leopard

35
gave

broki'
one
.1

under the weight

cold feeling
1

pi

someone who was

spine, a feeling that

trying to cross

it,

down my

remained with

me

long

after

had got

safely to the

other side.

This jhula being beyond the powers of the man-eater to cross, there

remained the two suspension bridges, and

felt

sure that

if

could close

them against the leopard

the Alaknanda,

should be able to confine him to one side of

in

and so reduce by half the area

which

to look for

him

The
river
left

first

thing therefore was to try to find out

on which bank of the

the leopard was.

river a

The

last kill,

of the sadhu, had taken place on the

bank of the
I

few miles from the Chatwapipal suspension bridge,

and
his

felt

sure that the leopard had crossed this bridge, after abandoning for

kill,

no

matter

what

precautions the locals and the pilgrims

"^t^^^^^fe^'^^^^^^^^f
*^^^2
4gfe / ^

may have taken before

precautions

kill,

their

were

redoubled

immediately after one, and

made

it

almost impossible for the leopard to

secure consecutive
area.
kills

in the

same

Looking
if

at the

ask why,
six
kills

this

map you will was so, as many as

shown
against a

have been
I

single village.

can only answer that

an

effort

cannot be

sustained
are small

indefinitely

The houses
and

and without conveniences or means

of sanitation,
surprising
if,

it

would not be

hearing the man-eater

was operating in a village ten, fifteen,

or twenty miles away,

some man,
&&'

woman, or

child

should, at the

urgent dictate
floor for a brief

of nature,

open

minute and so

give

tne leopard the

chance for which he

had perhaps been waiting

nigh

many

THE

SECOND

KILL

NO PHOTOGRAPHS OR OTHER MEANS

the man-eater

by which
I
I

could identify

by

his

pug-marks were

available, so, until

had been given

decided to treat

an opportunity of acquiring this information for myself,

all

leopards in the vicinity of Rudraprayag as suspect, and to shoot any

that gave

me
I

a chance. arrived at Rudraprayag,

I

The day
1
I

purchased two goats.

One

of these

tied

up the following evening

a mile along the pilgrim road; the other

a

took across the Alaknanda and tied up on

I

path running through some

heavy scrub jungle where

found the old pug-marks of a big male leopard.

On

visiting the goats the following

morning

found the one across

it

the river had

been

killed

and
killed

a small portion of

eaten.

The goat
a

had unquestionably been

by a leopard, but had been eaten by

small animal, possibly a pine-marten.

Having received on news about the man-eater during the

to
sit

day,

decided

up over the

goat,

and
fifty

at 3

p.m. took up

my

position in the branches

of a small tree about

I

yards from the

kill.

During the three hours

sat in the tree

had no indication, from either animals or birds, that

the leopard was

anywhere

in

the vicinity, and as dusk was falling

slipped off the tree, cut the cord tethering the goat

which

the leopard

The Second

Kill

37

had made no attempt to break the previous night

bungalow.
I

-and

set off for the

have already admitted that

I

had very
a

little

previous experience of
tigers,
I

man-eating leopards, but

the time
I

had met
I

few man-eating

and from

left

the tree until

reached the bungalow

it

took every
I

precaution to guard against a sudden attack; and

did so,
I

was fortunate that

made an

early start next

morning, and near the gate of the bungalow

I

picked up the tracks of a big male leopard. These tracks

followed

back to a densely
the goat

wooded
The

ravine which crossed the path close to where

was

lying.

goat had not been touched during the night.

The leopard
eater,

that

had followed
day

me
I

could only have been the manas

and for the

rest of the

walked

many

miles as
I

my

legs
all

would carry me,

telling all the

people

in the villages

visited,

and

whom
river,

met on the

roads, that the man-eater

careful.

was on

our side of the

and warning them to be

day,

Nothing happened that

after a

but next

day, just as

was

finishing breakfast

Golabrai, long morning spent in prospecting the jungles beyond

a very agitated

man

dashed into the bungalow to

tell

me

that a
village

woman
on the

had been killed by the man-eater the previous night in a

hill

above the

bungalowthe same

hill

and almost
five

at

die exact spot from

where you obtained your bird's-eye view of the

of country the

hundred square miles

man-eater was operating

I

over.

Within a few minutes

rifle

collected

all

the things

neededa

spare

off

fishing-lineand set and a shotgun, cartridges, rope, and a length of my men. It up the steep hill accompanied by the villager and two of
a sultry day,

was
the

three miles and though die distance was not great

at

mostthe
I

sun was very trying climb of four thousand feet in the hot
killed

and

arrived at the village in a bath ot sweat.

The story of the husband of the woman who had been

soon
the
told. Alter their

was

fire,

the

woman
On

eaten by the light of evening meal, which had been pans that had been collected the metal pots and
to the

used and carried

have a smoke.

them

wd

as she

did so the utensils clattered to the

man sat down to door to wash, while the down on the doorstep, reaching the door the woman sat ground. There was not

38

The

Man -EoHng

Leopard of Rudraprayag

sufficient light for the

man

to see

what had happened, and when he

he dashed forward and shut and
it

received no answer to his urgent

call

barred the door. 'Of what use', he said, 'would

risk

have been for

me

to

my

life

in trying to recover a dead body?' His logic

I

was sound, though

heartless;

and

gathered that the grief he showed was occasioned not

loss

so

much
The

by the

of his wife, as by the loss of that son and heir

whom

he had expected to see born within the next few days.

door,

where the

woman had been

fifty

seized,

opened on

to a four-

foot-wide lane that ran for

hearing the clatter of the
call

yards between two rows of houses.

On

falling

pots and pans, followed by the urgent

in the lane

of the

man

to his wife, every

door

had been instantaneously

shut.

The marks on the ground showed

that the leopard

had dragged

the unfortunate

woman
for a
fields.

the length of the lane, then killed her, and carried

her

down

the

hill

hundred yards

into a small ravine that bordered

some terraced
remains.

Here he

ate his meal,

and here he

left

the pitiful

The body
the other
tree in

lay in the ravine at

one end of a narrow terraced

a leafless

field, at

end of which, forty yards away, was

and stunted walnut

whose branches a hayrick had been

tall.

built,

four feet from the ground

sit.

and

six feet

In this hayrick

decided to

Starting

from near the body, a narrow path ran

down

into the ravine.

On
that

diis

woman,

path were the pug-marks of the leopard that had killed the and they were identical with the pug marks of the leopard

had followed

me two

nights previously

from the

killed goat to

the Rudraprayag bungalow.

The pug-marks were of an out-sized male leopard long past his prime, with a slight defect where a bullet fired
pad of his left hind paw procured two stout eight-foot bamboos from the village and drove them into the ground close to the perpendicular
I

four years previously lad creased the

bank that divided the where the body was laying from die field below To these bamboos I fixed my spare rifle and shotgun securely, tied lengths of dressed silk hshmg-hne to the triggers, looped the lines back over the trigger-guards, and fastened them to two stakes driven into the hillside on the far side of, and a htde above, the path. If the leopard came along the path he had used the previous night there was a reasonable chance of his pulling on ^e Lnes and shooting himself; on the other hand, if he avoided them, or
field

The Second

Kill

39

come bv any

otlier wav,

and
kill,

Bred

at

him

while he was

on the

he would be

almost certain to run into the trap

lav

which

on

his

most natural

line

of retreat.
protective

Both the leopard, because of

colouring,
stripped of

its

and the body, which had been

all

clothing,

would be

invisible in the

dark; so to give
in

me
I

an idea of the direction

a slab
it

which to

fire,

took

of white rock

from the ravine and put

the field,

on the edge of

about a foot

from

the near side

of the body.

My ground arrangements completed to my satisfaction,

1

made myself
on the

a comfortable

seat

rick,

throwing out

some of the some behind

in front.

straw,

and heaping
to

me and up
I

my

waist

As

was facing the

to the tree,

kill

and

had
little

my back
at

there was

chance of the leopard seeing me,

no matter
night, in

what time he came; and that he would come during the spite of his reputation of not returning to his kills, I was

firmly convinced.

My

clothes

were

still

wet

after the stiff climb, but a

I

comparatively dry jacket kept out the chill wind; so

settled

down
I

into

my

and comfortable seat and prepared for an all-night vigil. my men away, and told them to remain in the headman's house
soft

sent
I

until

came

for

them, or until the sun was well up next morning.

(I

had stepped

from the bank on to the rick and there was nothing to prevent the maneater

from doing the same.)

setting,

The sun was near

<
!

and the view of the Ganges

valley,

with the
level

vy Himalayas in the

the background showing bluish pink under

rays of the setting sun,

it,

was a

feast for the eyes.

Almost before

realized

daylight

had faded out of the sky and night had come.

darkness,

when used

in

connection with night,

is

a relative

term and

h *s no fixed standard; what to

one man would be pitch

dark, to another

40

The Man- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayog

would be

dark,

and

to a third

moderately dark. To me, having spent so

is

much
by

of

my

life

in the open, the night

I

never dark, unless the sky

I

is

overcast with heavy clouds.

do not wish

to imply that

can see

as well

night as

by day; but
or,

can see quite well enough to find

I

my way
that the

through any jungle

for that matter, over any ground.

a

had placed the

white stone near the body only as

starlight,

precaution, for

hoped

with the added reflection from the snowy range, would give

me

sufficient light to

shoot by

But

my

luck was out; for night had hardly fallen

when

there was a

flash of lightning,

followed by distant thunder, and in a few minutes the

first

sky was heavily overcast. Just as the

fall, I

big drops of a deluge began to

heard a stone

roll

into the ravine,

and

minute

later the loose

straw on the ground below

arrived;

me

was being scratched up. The leopard had

and while

sat in torrential rain with the icy-cold

wind

whistling

through

my
I

wet

clothes,

he
I

lay

dry and snug

in the straw below.

it

The
at

storm was one of the worst

its

have ever experienced, and while

village,

was

height,

saw a lantern being carried towards the

and marvelled

at the

courage of the
I

later that

learnt

man who carried it. It was not until some hours that the man who so gallandy braved both the leopard
thirty miles

and the storm had done a forced march of over

to bring

from

Pauri

me

the electric night-shooting light the

Government had promised

.
.

me; the
are vain,

arrival

of

this light three short

hours earlier might

But

regrets

and who can say that the fourteen people

life if

who

died later would

have had a longer span of

their throats?

the leopard had not buried his teeth in

the light had arrived in time there
is

And
I

again,

even

if

no

certainty that

should have killed the leopard that night.

The

rain

was soon over

leaving

me

chilled to the

bone

and

the

clouds were breaking

up when the white stone was suddenly obscured,

and

a little later

heard the leopard eating. The night before, he had

lain in

from that side; so, expecting him to do the had placed the stone on the near side of the kill. Obviously, the rain had formed little pools in the ravine, and to avoid
same
this night,
1

the ravine and eaten

them the leopard had taken up

obscured

new

position and in doing so had

I

my

mark. This was something

I

had not foreseen; however,

knowing the habits of leopards,

knew

should not have to wait long

Th Second

Kill

42

The

Man -Eating Leopard

of Rudraprayag

before the stone

showed up

again,

Ten minutes
I

later the stone

was

visible

and almost immediately thereafter

heard

sound below

me

and saw

the leopard as a light-yellowish object disappearing under the rick. His light colour could be accounted for by old age, but the sound he

made

when walking

could not then, nor can

the soft rustle of a

woman's

stubble in the field

about.

for; it was like and could not be explained by for there was none or by the loose straw lying
silk dress,

now, account

Waiting a suitable length of time,

stone, intending to fire the
a limit to the

raised the

rifle

and covered the

is

moment
rifle

it

was again obscured; but there

time

heavy
I

can be held to the shoulder, and

rifle

when

the limit
I

had been reached

lowered the

to ease

my

aching muscles.

had hardly done so when the stone for the second time disappeared from view. Three times within the next two hours
the

same thing

happened, and

in desperation, as
I

heard the leopard approaching the

rick for the fourth time,

leant over

and

fired at the indistinct object

below me.
I have given the usual name of 'field' was only about two feet wide at this point, and when I examined the ground next morning I found my bullet-hole in the centre of the twofoot-wide space with a little hair, cut from the leopard's

The narrow

terrace to

which

neck, scattered

round
I

it.

saw no more of the leopard that night, and at sunrise I collected my men and set off down the steep hill to Rudraprayag, whilst the husband and h,s fnends carried away the woman's remains for cremation

PREPARATIONS

MY THOUGHTS
to

AS,

COLD AND
my

STIFF,

walked down the

hill

Rudraprayag from the scene of

it

night's failure

were very

bitter, for,

from whatever angle

jade chance

was viewed, there was no question

a

diat the fickle

had played both Garhwal and myself

scurvy trick which

we did not deserve.

However

little

merit

it,

the people of our

hills

credit

me
I

with

supernatural powers

where man-eaters

are concerned.

News

that

was

on

my way
1

to try to rid
still

Garhwal of the man-eater had preceded me, and

men I met on the roads, and those who from their fields or village homes saw me passing, greeted me with a faith in the accomplishment of my mission that was as
while

was

many

days'

march from Rudraprayag

the

touching as
nearer
I

it

was embarrassing, and which increased

in intensity the

approached

my

destination.

Had any been

it

there to witness

my

entry into Rudraprayag,

he would have found

hard to believe that the

man whom
that the task

from the populace thronged round was no hero returning

the wars, but a

man, very sensible of

his limitations,

who

greatly feared

he had undertaken was beyond his powers of accomplishment. Five hundred square miles, much of which was clothed with dense scrub jungle, and mountainous, was an all of which was rugged and

44

The Man- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

enormous area

in

which to find and shoot one particular leopard out of

it,

possibly fifty that inhabited

beautiful country the less
1

and the more

it

saw of the grand and

task
I

liked

from the viewpoint of die

had

undertaken. The populace quite naturally did not share

my

misgivings; to

them

was one

who had
rid

rid others of

man-eaters and

who had now

lived
I

come among them to eight long years. And

few hours of

them of the menace they had

good
luck,

under

for
a

then, with incredible

had within
kill

my

arrival

got the animal

little

was

in pursuit

of to

one of

my
it

goats and, by staying out a

I

after dark, to follow

me

to that side

of the Alaknanda where

believed

it

would be
side.

less difficult to deal

with

than

it

would have been on the other

kill

Following on
I

this initial

success had been the

the further loss of

of the unfortunate
life,

woman.
and

had

tried to prevent

human

and had

failed,

my

failure

had presented
I

me

with an opportunity of shooting the leopard which otherwise

might

not have got for

many months.
toiling uphill

As

had been

behind

my

guide the previous

day,

had

weighed up

my

chances of killing the leopard and assessed them at two-

to-one, despite the facts that the animal had in recent years earned the

reputation of never returning to a

I

kill,

that
I

it

was

a dark night,

and

that

had no
I

aid to night shooting.

The day

visited
if
I

Michael Keene and told

him

would go to Garhwal he had asked

I

me

had everything

wanted;

and hearing that

only lacked a night-shooting light and would telegraph

to Calcutta for one,

he said the
with
a light;

least the

Government could do

for

me

was

to provide

me

and he promised to have the best one

procurable waiting for

me

at

Rudraprayag.
great

Though my disappointment was

not arrived,
it

when

found that the

light

had

was mitigated by

my

ability to see in the dark, the ability at

on which

had assessed

my

chances

two-to-one. So
I

on the success of
spare
rifle
I

that night's venture, that

much depended had armed myself with a

hayrick
shot,

and shot gun, and when from my concealed position on the viewed the scene the short range at which I should get my

and the perfectly camouflaged gun-trap into which the leopard would of a certainty run if I missed or wounded him my hopes rose high and put my chances of success at ten-to-one.
I

Then had come

the storm.
I

With

visibility

reduced to

practically nil,

and without the

electric light.

45
had
tailed,

and niv

failure

would

in a

few hours be

known throughout

the stricken area.

Exercise,

warm
a

water,

and food
1

haw
I

wonderfully soothing

effect
sfc

on

bitter thoughts,

and by the time

had picked

my way down

the

hillside,

had

hot bath, and breakfast,

had ceased to

rail at fate

and was

able to take a
bullet

more

reasonable view of

mv

night's failure. Regret over a

spilt

bred into the ground was as profitless as regret over milk

on

sand,

and provided the leopard had not crossed the Alaknanda

it

mv

chances

of killing
the

had improved,

for

now- had the electric shooting light which

to bring me.

runner bad braved bod* the leopard and the storm

The

first tiling

to
I

do was

to find out
in

if

the leopard had crossed the

it

Alaknanda, and

as

was firm

mv

conviction that the only vvav

1

could

do

diis

was by way

of die suspension bridges,

1

set out after breakfast to

glean this information.

discounted the possibility of the leopard having

crossed the Chatwapipal bridge, for no matter

received b\ the discharge ot

how
tew

great die shock he had

feet

mv

heavy

rifle a

from

his head,

it

was not possible that he would have covered the fourteen miles diat
separated die
kill

from the bridge

in the
I

few

houi-s diat

remained between

die firing of
the

my

shot and daylight, so

decided to confine

my

search to

Rudrapravag bridge.
There were three approaches to the bridge; one from die north, one

from the south, and between these two

a well-beaten footpath

from the
I

Rudrapravag bazaar. After examining these approaches very carefully

crossed the bridge and
mile,

examined

the Kedarnath pilgrim road tor half a

and then the footpath on which three nights previously

killed.

mv

goat had
river.
I

been

Satisfied
in

that

the leopard had not crossed the

determined to put
night

operation

mv
1

plan for closing the two bridges

at

and thus confining the leopard

side of the river.

The

plan was

simp

one and, given the co-operation

"'

die
;es,

caretakers

of

lb

both of
left

whom
bridge

timl On the
rloS(
-

bank and

to

the

abutments, was certain of

46
To

Th Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

close the only

means of communication between the two banks of

the river over a stretch of

some

thirty miles
it

would appear
so, for

to

be a very

high-handed proceeding, but actually

was not

no human being

dared to use the bridges between sunset and sunrise owing to the curfew

imposed by the leopard.

The bridges were closed by wedging thornbushes

wide archway
in the

in the four-foot-

towers carrying the

steel cables

from which the

plank footway was suspended, and during the whole period that the
bridges were closed with thorn, or

were guarded by me, no human being

demanded
I

passage across them.

all

spent in

some twenty
on

nights

on the tower on the

left

bank of

the Rudraprayag bridge, and those nights will never be forgotten.

The
and

tower was

built out

a projecting rock
it,

and was twenty

feet high,

the platform

on

the top of
feet

which had been worn smooth by the wind,

feet long.

was about four

wide and eight

There were two means of

cables,

reaching this platform, one by

swarming along the

which ran
hillside

dirough holes near the top of the tower and were anchored in the

some

fifty feet

from the tower, and the other by climbing up

ladder.
I

very

rickety

bamboo

chose die

latter way, for

the cables were coated

over with

some black and very

evil-smelling matter

which clung to one's

hands and permanently stained one's clothes.

The

ladder

two

uneven lengths of bamboo connected with thin

string-

sticks loosely

held in position with

only reached

to within four

feet of the platform.

Standing on the top rung of the ladder and

friction of the

dependent for a handhold on the

the

palms of

my

hands on

smooth masonry the

had
less

safe gaining

of the platform was an acrobatic

feat that

appeal the oftener

it

was

tried.

All the rivers in this part of the

Himalayas flow from north to south,

and

in the valleys

through which they flow blows a wind which changes

direction with the rising and the setting of the sun.

hours the wind

During

daylight

locally called
it

dadublows from
my

the soutii, and during

the hours of night

blows from the north.

1

At the time

when
lull

used to take up

position

on the platform
it

there was usually a

as a light

in die

wind, but shortly diereafter

started blowing

zephyr gaining in strength as daylight faded, and amounting by

Preparations

47

midnight to
even

raging gale. There was no handhold on the platform and

when

lying flat

on

my

stomach to increase
risk of

friction

and reduce wind-

being blown off on to the rocks below, off which one would have bounced into the ice-cold Alaknanda not that the temperature of the water would have been of any interest after a fall of sixty feet on
sixty feet

pressure, there

was imminent

to sharp

and jagged rocks. Strangely

I

enough, whenever
falling it

felt in fear

of

was always the water, and

I

never the rocks, that

thought o Added

to the discomfort of the

wind,

suffered
ants,

torment from a multitude of small

which entered

my

clothes and ate away

patches of skin. During the twenty nights

I

guarded the bridge, the thornbushes

were not placed in position; and

in
all

that long period the bridge

was only crossed by one living

thing

a jackal.

^i^"'
i!

N*.

EACH EVENING
by two

WHEN WENT TO
I

the bridge

was accompanied
to the

men who

carried the ladder that enabled

platform, and which they

removed

after

handing

me to climb me my rifle.
a

On
He

the second day, as

we

arrived at the bridge,

we saw

man

dressed

in flowing

white robes with something glinting on his head and breast.

carried a six-foot silver cross,

and was approaching the bridge from

the direction of Kedarnath.

On

reaching the bridge the

man

knelt

down

and, holding the cross in front of him,

in this

bowed

his head. After

remaining
feet,

position for a

little

while he raised the cross high, rose to his

took

few steps forward, and again knelt

down and bowed

all

his head.

This he continued to do at short intervals

bridge.

the

way

across the long

As he passed

me

the
in

man

raised his
I

hand

in salutation, but

si

nee he
I

appeared to be deep

prayer

did not speak to him.

I

The

glints

had

seen on his head-dress and breast were,

perceived, silver crosses.

My men
be n,

had been as interested in this strange apparition as I had and watching him climb the steep footpath to the Rudraprayag
they asked

bazaar,

me what manner

of

man he

was, .uu\

from what
as
1

country he had come, That he was

a Christian

was apparent, and

Magic

49

had not heard him speak

beard,

assumed from

his long hair, jet-black luxuriant

i

and what

could see of his features, that he was

man from

Northern India.

The following morning, when with die help of the ladder I had climbed down from the tower and was proceeding to the Inspection Bungalow,
where
I

passed that portion of the daylight hours that

did not spend

I

in visiting

near and distant villages in search of news of the man-eater,

saw the

tall

white-robed figure standing on

At

a great slab
left

of rock near the

road, surveying the river.

my

approach he

the rock and greeted

me and when I asked him what had brought him to these parts he said from a distant land to free the people of Garhwal from he had come When I asked how he proposed the evil spirit that was tormenting them.

accomplishing this
after

feat,

he

said

he would make an
evil spirit

effigy
it,

of a tiger and

he had, by prayer, induced the

to enter

he would

set

die effigy afloat

sea

on the Ganges and

it

the river

would convey
it

it

down

to the

from where
to

could not return, and where

would do no

farther

harm

human beings. However much I doubted

I

the man's ability to accomplish the task

faith

he had set himself,

could not help admiring his

I left

and
I

his industry.
still

He
at

arrived each
I

morning before

the tower, and

found him
split

work when
paper,

returned in the evening, labouring with

his 'tiger'.

bamboos,
the effigy

string,

and cheap coloured cloth on

When
made

one night was Rearing completion a heavy rainstorm

structure

the whole
it

come

cheerfully started on unstuck, but, nothing daunted, he

again next
~

morning, singing as he worked.

day

Came

at last the great

when

of a horse, the 'tiger' about the size

satisfaction.

and resembling no

Who
down

is

there

taking part in a tamasha?

a steep

his known animalwas fashioned to whole-heartedly enjoy among our hill-folk who does not was came to a long pole,

When

the

effigy, tied

path to a small sandy beach,

it

hundred men,
trumpets.

many of

whom

were beating

a had an escort of over long gongs and blowing

At the river's edge the effigy

was unlashed from the

pole.

Thcw

ite-

an robed man, with his silver crosses on headgear and breast with earnest prayer f<x* cross in his hands, knelt on the sand, and

s six^

uc

50

TKe Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

tlit-

evil spirit

to enter his handiwork,

and then die

effigy, vvitli

a crash of

gongs and blare of trumpets, was consigned to the Ganges, and speeded

on

its

way

to the sea by a liberal offering of sweets

and flowers.

Next morning die familiar figure was absent from the rock, and when
I

asked

some men who were on

their

way

to have an early dip in the

river

where

my

friend of the flowing robes had

he had gone, they answered,

'Who can

tell

come from, and where whence a holy man has

come, and who dare question whither he has departed?'

These

men

with sandalwood-paste caste-marks on their foreheads,

who spoke of
in the

the

man

as 'holy',

and

all

those others

who had

taken part

launching ceremony, were Hindus.

In India, where there are

religion counts for so

much

the 'black water'

no passports or

identity discs,

and where

except

among

those few
a

who

have crossed

believe that a

man wearing

saffron robe, or

carrying a beggar's bowl, or with silver crosses on his headgear and chest,

could walk from the Khyber Pass to

Cape Comorin without once being

questioned about his destination, or the object of his journey.

NEAR ESCAPE

WHILE

WAS

STILL
from

GUARDING THE
and
as the
I

bridge, Ibbotson and his

in the

wife Jean arrived

Pauri,

accommodation
to

Inspection
sel

Bungalow was very limited

up

moved out
hill

make room

for

them, and

my
A

forty-pound tent on the

on the

far side of the pilgrim road.

left

tent afforded little protection against an animal that had

his

claw-marks on every door and

window

for miles round, so

helped

mv
on.
its

men

to

put

thorn fence round the ground we intended

this plot

to

camp
as

Overhanging

of ground was a giant prickly-pear-tree, and

I

branches interfered with the erection of the tent

it

told die
I

men

to cut

down.
I

When
I

the tree had been partly cut through

changed mv mind,
da); so

for

saw that

should be without shade during the heat of the

1

instead of felling the tree

told the

men

to lop the overhanging branches.

at

This tree,

which was leaning over the camp

far side

an angle of forty-five degrees,

was on the

of the fence.
in the little

There were eight of us

ring meal
1

camp, and when we had eaten OUT

in the fence thornbush securely into the opening easj u had entered noticed that it would be very did so In, and as of the tnc man-eater to climb the tree and drop down on our Uuu However, it was about it, and il the too late then to do anything and H>'d Left us alone for that one night, the tree could he cut dovm

wedged

<'

removed

in the

morning.

52

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

had no tents for

my men,

and had intended that they should sleep

Bungalow,

with Ibbotson's

men

in the outbuildings of the Inspection

asserting that there was no more but this they had refused to do, My cook for them than there was for me in the open tent.

danger

who
a

was,

discovered, a very noisy sleeper

was

lying next to

and about
little

yard from me, and beyond him, packed like sardines in the
I

enclosure, were the six Garhwalis

had brought from Naini

I

Tal.

The weak
of
it.

spot in our defence was the tree, and

went to sleep thinking

It

was

a brilliant

moonlit night, and round about midnight

was

suddenly awakened by hearing the leopard climbing die tree. Picking

up the
off the

riffle,

which was lying ready loaded on the bed,

just slipped
all

swung my

legs

bed and had

my

feet into

my

slippers

to avoid the

diorns which were scattered

round

when

there was an ominous

crack from the partly-cut-through tree, followed by a yell from the cook
of Bagh\ BaghV In one
l

jump

was outside the tent and, swinging round,

bear on the leopard as
it

was

just

too

late to get the rifle to

sprang up
I

the bank

on

to a terraced field. Pulling the

bush out of the gap

in

dashed

up

to the Held
as
I

which was about forty yards

width and bare of crops,

and

stood scanning the hillside dotted over with thornbushes and a

'

A Near
few big rocks, the alarm
the leopard had

Escape

53

call

of a jackal

far

up the

hill

informed

me

that

gone beyond

my

reach.

The cook informed me

fact

later that

he had been lying on

of which

had long been aware

and

his

back

hearing the tree crack he

had opened his eyes and looked straight into the leopard's face just as it was preparing to jump down.

The
though

tree

was cut down next day and the fence strengthened, and

we

stayed in that

camp

for several

weeks our slumbers were not

again disturbed.

THE GIN-TRAP

FROM REPORTS RECEIVED FROM NEARBY

unsuccessful] attempts

villages

where

had been made to break into houses, and from

I

the pug-marks
still

had seen on the roads,

and
a a

knew
arrival

that the

man-eater was

in die vicinity

few days alter the

of the Ibbotsons, news

was brought that

cow had been

a

killed in a village

two miles from

I

Rudraprayag, and about half

the hayrick in a walnut tree.

mile from the village where

had

sat

on

Arrived

at
a

the

village-

we found

that a leopard
killed
it,

had broken down

to the
to
a

the door of

one-roomed house and had door one of the several cows that were in
drag
I

and dragged

and not being able

it

through the door, had

left

it

on the threshold after eating

meal,
in

rhe house was

the heart of the village, and

a

on prospecting round,
a

we found

that bv

making

hole in the wall of a house

lew yards av

ould Overlook the

"<

kill.

owner

oi this

house,
fall

who was
inn,

also the

owner of

the dead

c<>vv.

" uK "'"

uillin

- to

with our plans, and as evening closed

the

in

we

J** "ke.l

ourselves very

securely
tea

room, ami

after eating our

us,

sandwiches and drinking the

we had brought with

we mounted

The Gin-trap

55

in

turns over the hole

in the wall

throughout the long night without

eithei

tearing anything oJ the leopard.

in tin-

When we emerged
village,

morning the

villagers

took us round the

which was

oJ considerable size,

and showed us the claw-marks on

doors and
his

windows made by
at

the man-eater in the course of years

attempts to get

the inmates.

One door
it

in particular

deeper claw -marks dian any other

to enter die

had more and

was die door the leopard had forced

room

in

which die

forty goats

and die boy had been secured.

killed in

A dav
a

or two later another cow was reported to have been

small village

on the

hill

lew hundred yards from the bungalow. Here

killed inside a house,

again

we found

that the

cow had been

dragged

as
it

far as the door, and partly eaten. Facing the door, and distant from

about ten yards,

a

was

newly built hayrick, sixteen

feet

feet tall

and

built

on

wooden platform two

above ground.
early in the
built

News of
the

the

kill

was brought to us
us,

morning, so we had
by evening was
artistic, diat
I

whole dav before

and the machan we

am

sure not only die

most

effective,

but also the most

has ever

been constructed for a similar purpose.

To
set

start with,

the rick was dismantled, and a scaffolding ot poles was

it,

round the platform. With these poles to support

a second,

and

smaller,

pladbrm was

built four feet

above the lower one. Two-inch-mesh

the whole structure, leaving only
of

wire-netting was then

the space bare
straw

wound round

between the lower platform and the ground. Wisps

netting,

were dien looped into the meshes of the

and

a
it

little

straw

was spread round the rick and under the platform,

ire

just as

had been

we

started work.

One

of die

joint

owners of the

hayrick,

who had
just as

absent from the village for a d\\ or two and

who

returned

had finished our task, would not believe that the rick had been

""bed
Wt had

until

he

felt

it

all

round, and had been shown the second rick

in .\n

built

with the spare ha\

adjoining held.
left

the sun
,,u
'

was setting we crawled through the hide we had

in

netting
01
1

and entered the

n
is

behind secure!) closing the entrance

a little

upper platform, shorter than me, so he took the

a

when we had made ourselves comfortable we each nude

to shoot through.

small

fa

ln

the sir.,u

As

it

would not be possible

for us

Man-Eating Leopar

Rudraprayag

communicate with each other once

vet >a\\
i

the leopard arrive d,

a bright

we

agreed that

it

titst

was to

lire.

It

was

moon nioht, so there moonlit

li^ht.

need

lor either ol us to

use the electric

Sounds

in the village

quietened
I

down

alter the evening

meal had been

eaten, and at about 10 p.m.

heard the leopard coming

it

down

the

hill

behind

us.

On

arriving at the rick

paused for
I

few minutes and then

started to crawl

under the platform

was

sitting on.

Immediately below

me. and with only the thickness of a plank between

my

seat and h Is

head, he paused for a long minute and then started to crawl forward;

and
give

just as

was expecting him

at a

to

emerge from under the platform and

feet,

me

an easy shot

range of three or four

there was a loud

to the right, the
his

creak in the platform above me.

The leopard dashed out

hill.

where

could not see him, and went up the

The creaking of

planks at the critical

moment

had resulted from Ibhotson changing

position to relieve a very painful

cramp
kill

in

both

legs.

After the fright he

that night,

had got, the leopard abandoned the

or the next night.

and did not return

Two nights

later

another cow was killed a few hundred yards above

the Rudrapravag bazaar.

The Gin-trap

57

The owner of this cow

onlv

lived alone in an isolated

house which contained

one room,
hits ot

room which was

divided by a rough partition mack- of

plank into a kitchen and living-room. Sometime during the night a noise in the kitchen the door of which he had forgotten
shut
the
in

odd

awakened
a

to

the man, and a

little later, in

die

dim moonlight winch

open door was admitting, he saw the leopard through the wide chinks the partition, trying to tear one of the planks out.
For

long time the

man

lav

and sweated, while the leopard

a

tried

plank after plank. Eventually, being unable to find

partition, the

weak

place in the

leopard

left

the kitchen, and killed the man's cow; which

was tethered in a grass lean-to against the side of the house. After
killing

the
it

cow

the leopard broke the rope by which

it

was tethered,
in the

dragged
after

a short distance

from the

lean-to,

and

left

it

out

open

partaking of a good meal.

the very edge of the
hill,

On
ot

and ahout twenty vards from where

a fair-sized tree, in the

the dead

cow was

lying, diere

was

upper hranches

which a hayrick had been

built;

on

this natural

machan

from which
below

there

was

a sheer
I

drop of

several
sit.

hundred

feet into the vallev

Ibbotson and

decided to

To

assist in killing

the man-eater, the

Government

a tew days previously

had sent us a gin-trap. This trap, which was

eighty
Its

five feet
its

long and weighed

I

pounds, was the most fearsome diing of

kind

have ever seen.

jaws,

armed widi sharp

teeth tfiree inches long, had a spread of twentysprings,

four inches,

and were actuated by two powerful

compress.
kill

which needed

two

men

to

When
field
1

leaving the

the leopard had followed

a

footpath across

about forty yards wide, up

three-foot bank, and across another

bordered by a densely scrub-covered hill. At this three-foot step from the upper to the lower field, we set the trap, and to ensure the
leopard Stepping on to
;

it

we

planted

few thorn twigs on eidier side of

a short length

To our of the trap was attached

of half-mch-

ck

chain, terminating in a ring three inches in diameter; through this

stout peg, chaining the trap to the ground.
n these

arrangements had been completed, Jean Ibbotson returned

with our men, and Ibbotson and
I

*e bungalow

climbed up

to the

58

The Man-Eafing Leopard of Rodroprayag

The Gin-trap

59

ha\rick. After tying a stick in front to act as a screen,

of us and looping

a little

hay over

it,

we made
felt

ourselves comfortable, and waited for the

leopard,

which we

sure would not escape us

in

on

this occasion.
sky,

As evening closed

heavy clouds spread over the 9 p.m.,

and

as the

moon was
light

not due to

rise until

we had
and

of necessity to depend

on the electric

light for the

accuracy of our shooting until then. This

affair,

was

heavy and cumbersome

I

as

Ibbotson insisted on
little difficulty.

my

taking the shot,

attached

it

to

my

riffle

with some

An hour

after

dark a succession of angry roars apprised us of the

in the trap. Switching

fact

that the leopard

was

on the

electric light,

saw the

leopard rearing up with the trap dangling from his forelegs, and taking
a

hurried shot,

my

.450 bullet struck a link in the chain and severed

field in a series

it.

Freed from the peg the leopard went along the

of

great leaps, carrying the trap in front of him, followed

up by the

bullet

from
all

my

left barrel,

and two

ledial bullets

from Ibbotson's shot gun,

of which missed him. In trying to reload

my

rifle

displaced

some

part of the light, after

which

it

refused to function.
in

Hearing the roars of the leopard and our four shots, the people
Rudraprayag bazaar, and
in

nearby

villages,

swarmed out of
all

their houses
sides

carrying lanterns and pinetorches, and converged from

isolated house.

on the
they
1

Shouting to them to keep clear was of no

avail, for

were making so
climbed
in

much

noise that they could not hear us; so while

down

the tree, taking

my

rifle

with

me

hazardous proceeding

the dark

Ibbotson

lit

into the
a length

machan with

us.

and pumped up the petrol lamp we had taken Letting the lamp down to me on the end of

of rope, Ibbotson joined

me on

the ground, and together

we

went
was
a

in

the direction the leopard had taken. Halfway along the field there

hump

caused by an outcrop of rock;

this

hump we
little

approached,
I

with Ibbotson holding the heavy

lamp high above

his head, while

walked

by his side with and

i

rifle

to shoulder.
in this

Beyond the hump was

depression,

Touching down

was depression and facing us and growling,

the leopard.

Within

a few

minuets of

my

bullet crashing into his head.

We were surrounded by an
r<>und

excited crowd,

who

literally

danced with joy

their long-dreaded

enemy.

In

animal that

lay

dead before

me

was an out-sized male leopard,

60

The Mem- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

who the previous night had tried to tear down a partition to get at a human being, and who had been shot in an area in which dozens of human beings had been killed, all good and sufficient reasons for
assuming that he was the man-eater. But
that he
I

could not make myself believe

I

was the same animal

it

had seen the night

a

sat over the

bodv of

the

woman. True,

had been

dark night and

I

had only vaguely seen

that the animal that

the oudine of the leopard- even so,

was convinced

was now being lashed to

a pole

by willing hands was not the man-eater.

way, followed by the

With the Ibbotsons leading the

the leopard and a
for the bungalow.

men

carrying

crowd of

several

hundred men, we

set off via the bazaar

As

stumbled

down

die

hill

in the

wake of the procession

the only

one

in all that

throng

who

of Rudraprayag was dead

that

my

did not believe that die man-eating leopard

thoughts went back to an occurrence

I

had taken place not

far

from our winter home when

later in a

was

a small

boy,

and which

saw recounted many years

book

entitled

>^>^
c

<f

# ^ A illk *mwW*S.7*Z'$*
.,

The Gin-trap

61

BmVC
L*5f

Dee<is
'

or P erti aps

it

was

Bravest

Deeds.

The occurence concerned

and Braidwood of the

two men: Smeaton of the Indian

Civil Service

Forest Department.

One

dark

stormy
these

night,

in

pre-railway days,
travelling in

two men were

a dak-gharry

from Moradabad

to

Kaladhungi, and on going round a

bend

in

the road they ran into a

killing the driver

rogue elephant. In

and the two horses, the elephant

overturned the
gharry.

Braidwood
it

had of

a rifle,
its

and while he got

put
it

out

case,
it,

together,

and
to

loaded

Smeaton climbed on

&{r *$j&fc
Smeaton, holding the
his
oil

the gharry and released the one

unbroken lamp from

its

socket.
light

Then
over

lamp which only gave

glimmer of

head, advanced up to the elephant and shone the light on his

forehead, to enable

Braidwood

to get in a killing shot. Admittedlv there

a leopard;

was

a great difference
r

between a rogue elephant and

care to walk
practically

even

so,

there are few

who would

up

to a

pain-maddened leopard

which

we

later

found had

torn
a

its

held by a thin strip of skin

paw

free

and was onlv

his

holding

lamp above

head and

depending for safety on

For the
open, with
slow, for
first

companion's

bullet.

night in

many

years every house in the bazaar was

women and

children standing in the doorwavs. Progress was

every few yards the leopard was put

it.

down

to let the children

fluster
Street

round and get a better view of

left us,

At the farther end of the long

in

our escort

and the leopard was carried

triumph to the

bungalow by our men.

Returning to the bungalow after
dI)

wash

at

mv

camp, the Ibbotsons

I,

both during and long after

it,

put forward our arguments for and

against the

dead leopard being the man-eater. Eventually, without either

62

Th Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

side-

eottvioeing the otlier,

we decided
was

that as Ibbotson had to get back

to his

work

at Pauri,

and

tired out after

in

mv

long stay

at

Rudraprayag,

we would spend the next dav

skin, 'and

skinning the leopard and drying the

for Pauri.
in

on the
earlv

da\ after

would break camp and make

From

morning

to late evening relays of

men
and

kept coming
as

from near and distant

villages to see the leopard,

most of these
the

men
Two

asserted that they recognized the animal as the man-eater,

I

conviction of the Ibbotsons, that they were right and

was wrong,

grew.

concessions at

mv

request Ibbotson made: he added his warning

to the

people to mind, not to relax precautions against the man-eater,

tell

and he refrained from telegraphing to

had shot the man-eater.

the

Government

that

we

We went
morning.
I I

early to

bed

that night, for

it

we were

to start at daybreak next

hazri

was up while

was

still

dark and was having chota

when

heard voices on the road. As

this

was very unusual,

at that hour.

called out to ask

what men were doing on the road

climbed up the path to

On

seeing me, four

men

my

camp, and informed

me

they had been sent

by the

patwari to tell
far side

me

that a

woman had been

killed

by the man-eater

on the

of the

river,

about a mile from the Chatwapipal bridge.

THE HUNTERS

HUNTED

IBBOTSON WAS JUST UNBOLTING THE

with early tea
to Pauri
tea

door

to admit his
his

man
move

when

arrived,

and

after

he had countermanded

we

sat

on Jean's bed with

a lar^e-scale

map between
was
I

us, drinking

and discussing our plans.

Ibbotson's

work

at his

headquarters

at

Pauri

pressing,

and

at

most he could only spare two more days and

to Naini Tal the previous

nights.

had telegraphed
via Pauri

day to say

was returning home

and
rail,

Kotdwara;
I

this

telegram

decided to cancel, and instead of going by

I

would return on foot the way

had come. These

details settled,

and
I

the village

where the

returned to

camp

to

woman had been killed found on the tell my men of our change of plans, and to
us,
kill.

map,

instruct

them to pack up and follow

brought news of the

accompanied by the four men who had

Jeans was to remain at Rudraprayag, so after breakfast Ibbotson and

I

set off

on two of

his horses, a
I

Gulf Arab and an English mare, two

of

the

most surefooted animals

have ever had the good fortune

to ride.

We

took our

rifles,

blue-flame stove, a petrol-lamp, and some

provisions with us,

and were accompanied by one ot ibbotson's syces

on a borrowed horse, carrying food for our horses.

64

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rodraprayag

We

left

the horses at the Chatwapipal bridge. This bridge had not been
result that the

dosed the night we shot the leopard, with the

had got across the river and secured

man-eater
he
visited.

a kill at the first village

guide was waiting for us at the bridge, and he took us up a very

steep ridge and along a grassy hillside, and then

down

into a
it.

deep and

densely

wooded
was

ravine with a small stream flowing through

Here we

found the patwari and some twenty

men

guarding die

kill.

The

kill

very robust and

fair girl,

some

eighteen or twenty years

of age. She was lying on her face with her hands by her sides. Every
vestige of clothing

had been stripped from

her,

and she had been licked

by the leopard from the soles of her feet to her neck, in which were four
great teeth-marks; only a few

pounds of

flesh

had been eaten from the

upper portion of her body, and a few pounds from the lower portion.

The drums we had heard

by the

as

we came up
kill,

the
as
it

hill

were being beaten

men who were

guarding the

and

was then about 2 p.m.

in the vicinity,

and there was no chance of the leopard being anywhere

we went up
After tea

to die village to
us.

brew

ourselves

some

tea, taking the patwari

and the guard with

we went and had

look

at

the house where the

girl

had

been

killed. It

was a stone-built house, consisting of one room, situated

fields

in the

midst of terraced
girl,

some two or

three acres in extent, and

it

was occupied by the

her husband, and their six-month-old child.

kill,

Two
house.

days previous to the

the husband had gone to Pauri to give

left his

evidence in a land dispute case, and had

father in charge of the

On

the night of the

kill,

after the girl

it

and her father-in-law had

to retire for

partaken of their evening meal and

the night, the
girl,

was getting near time

who had been

nursing her child, handed

it

over to her

father-in-law, unlatched the door,

and stepped outside

to squat

down

have already mentioned that there are no sanitary conveniences in the

houses of our

hill-folk.

When
it
1

the child was transferred

if

from the mother

to the grandfather,

started crying, so even

there had been any sound from outside

and

am
'.

sure there was none

he would not have heard

it.

It

was

a dark

After waiting for

few minutes the

man
got

called to the girl; and

receiving IIO answer he called again.

Then he

up and hurriedly

closed

and latched die door.

The Hunters Hunted

65

it was easy to reconstruct the scene. Shortly after the rain had stopped, the leopard, coming from

Ram

had

(alien earlier in the

evening and

the direction
field,

oi'

the village, had crouched

left

down behind
the

a rock in the
it
]

about thirty yards to the

front of the door.

Here

ld

for

some time

d lain

possibly listening to the

die gn-1

opened the door she squatted

man and down on its

girl talking.

When

right-hand side, partly

turning her back

on

die leopard,

who had

crept round the far side of the

him from the corner of the house with belly to ground and, creeping along close to the wall of the house,
had caught the
girl

rock, covered the twenty yards separating

from behind, and dragged her

to the rock. Here,

when

the

girl

was dead, or possibly when the man

had picked

called out in alarm, the leopard

her

up and, holding her

high, so that

no mark of hand or foot showed on

the soft

newly ploughed ground,

field,

had carried her across one

down
across

three-foot bank, and

another

field

which
drop on

ended

in a twelve-foot

to a well-used footpath.
this

Down
about

drop the leopard had sprung

girl

with the

eleven stone

who weighed mouth,

in his

and

some idea of
realized

his

strength will be
fact that

from the

when he
let

t
any

landed

on the footpath he did not

body come

portion of her
the ground.

in contact with -

-"*&

Crossing the footpath he

had gone straight

\^
V:

down

the

hill

lor half a mile, to the

spot where
girl.

he had undressed the

eating a
little

After
left

of her,
little

he had

her lying in a
grass,

glade of emerald-green

undrr
<k>
.-

fehe

shade of a tree roofed over

u 'ith

nM creepers.

66

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

At about four o'clock

we went down

to

sit

over the

kill,

taking the

petrol-lamp and night-shooting light with us.

It

was reasonable to assume that the leopard had heard the noise

the villagers

made when
if it

searching for the

girl,
it

and

later

when guarding
great
tree about

die body, and that

caution; so
sixty yards

returned to the
sit

kill

would do so with
and selected a

we

decided not to
hill

near the

kill,

away on the

overlooking the glade.

hill

This tree, a stunted oak, was growing out of the

angle,
it

at

almost a riaht

and

after

we had hidden

the petrol-lamp in a

little

hollow and covered

over with pine-needles, Ibbotson took his seat in

clear view of the
hill;
kill,

fork of the tree from

where he had a
to

while

sat

on the trunk with my back

I

him and
safety.

facing the

Ibbotson was to take the shot, while

light

saw

to

our

was not functioningpossibly because the batten had faded outour plan was to sit up as long as Ibbotson could
see to shoot
village

As the shooting

and then, with the help of the petrol-lamp, get back to the where we hoped to find that our men had arrived from Rudraprayag.

had not had time to prospect the ground, but the villagers had informed us that there was heavy jungle to the east of the kill, to which
they
felt

We

sure the leopard had retired

this direction,

when

they drove

it off.

If the leopard
it

came from
glade and
sight

Ibbotson would see' it long before

fitted

got to the

would get an easy shot, for his rifle was which not only made for accurate shooting,
as less

with

a telescopic

but which also gave us

an extra half-hour,

more or

we had found from tests. When a minute of davlight may make the difference between success and failure", this
is

modification of the light factor

very important.
hills to

The sun was

been
in

setting
for

behind the high

the west, and

we had
the
hill,

shadow

some minutes when

a kakar dashed

down

baking, from the direction in which we had been told there was heavy jungle. On the shoulder of the hill the animal pulled up, and after barking in one spot for some time went away on the far side, and die sound dies away in the distance.
kakar had undoubtedly been alarmed b V a leopard, and though n was quite possible that there were other leopards in that area, mv hef

The

had been raised, and when

looked round at Ibbotson

saw

'that

he

too was keyed up, and that he had both hands on h.s

rifle.

The Hunters Hunted

67

Light

was beginning

to fade, but

was good enough to shoot by even

without the aid of the telescopic

sight,

when

pine-cone dislodged from

behind some low bushes

thirty-

yards above us
feet.

came

rolling

down

the

hill

and struck the tree close to

my

The leopard had

arrived and, possibly

suspecting danger, had taken a line that would enable

him

to prospect
kill.

from

a safe place

on the

hill all

the ground in the vicinity of his

Unfortunately, in so doing he had got our tree in a direct line with die
loll,

and though

he would be

who was showing no oudine, might escape observation, certain to see Ibbotson, who was sitting in a fork of the tree.
I,

When
leopard

sufficient light for

me

to shoot by

had long since gone, and

to him,
It

Ibbotson's telescopic sight was

no longer of any use

the tree.

we heard

the
to

coming
I

stealthily

down towards

was then time

I

take action, so

asked Ibbotson to take

my

place, while

retrieved the
It

lamp. This lamp was of

a brilliant light but,

German make and was

its

called a petromax.

gave

with

long body and longer handle, was not desioned

to

be used as a lantern
I

in a jungle.

am

a little taller than Ibbotson,

and suggested that

all

should carry

the lamp, but Ibbotson said

that

he could manage

right, and,

moreover,

he would rather depend on

I

my

rifle

than his own. So

we

set off,

Ibbotson leading and

Fifty yards

following with both hands on

tree,

my

rifle.

from the

while climbing over a rock, Ibbotson slipped,

in violent contact

the base of the

lamp came

with the rock, and the

mantle

fell

in

dust to the bottom of the lamp. The streak of blue flame

to the petrol reservoir gave sufficient light
feet,

directed

from the nozzle on

for us to see

where

to .put

our

but the question was

how

long

we

should have even this

could carry the

much

light.

Ibbotson was of the opinion that he

it

lamp
stiff

for three minutes before

burst.

Three minutes,
it

in

which to do a

climb of half

a mile, over

ground on which

was

necessary to change direction every few steps to avoid huge rocks and

thornbushes, and possibly

followed and

actually followed as

we found

later by

a man-eater,
in

was

a terrifying prospect.
life

There are events

fede

one's

from memory; the climb up that

never which, no matter how remote, me one in the dark was for
hill

troubles were not eventually reached die footpath our ended, for the path was a series of buffalo wallows, and we did not know tftfaem.

When we

68
where

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

om men

wore. Alternately slipping on wet ground and stumbling

aver unseen rocks,

we

at last

came

to

some stone

steps which took off

from the path ami went up

a small courtyard,

to the right.

Climbing these steps we found

on the
as

far side

of which was a door.

the steps, so
I

We

had heard the

gurgling of a

hookah

we came up

kicked the door and

I

shouted to the inmates to open. As no answer came,

took out

box of

matches and shook

I

it,

crying that

if

the door was not opened in a minute

would

set the thatch alight.

On

this

an agitated voice came from inside

fire,

the house, begging

me

not to set the house on

door was being opened

and saying

that the

minute

later first the inner

door and then

I

the outer door were opened, and in two strides Ibbotson and
the house, slamming the inner door, and putting our backs to

were

in

it.

There were some twelve or fourteen men, women, and children of

ages in die room.

all

When

the

men had

regained their wits after the

unceremonious

entry, they

begged us to forgive them for not having opened

the doors sooner, adding that they and their families had lived so long in
terror or the man-eater that their courage had gone.

Not knowing what

sound they heard
at

form the man-eater might

night. In their fear they

take, they suspected every

full

had our

sympathy, for from the time Ibbotson

a

had slipped and broken the mantle, and

extinguished the red-hot lamp to prevent
that one,
it

few minutes
I

later

had

bursting,
live

had been convinced

and possibly both, of us would not

to reach the village.

We

were told that our

men had
room

arrived about sundown, and that

hill.

they had been housed in a block of buildings Farther along the

The

two able-bodied

men

in the

offered to

show us

the wav, but as w e

knew

it

would be murder
would

to let

declined their offer

the risk
it

entail

which and
a

them return

to their

homes
full

alone,

we

had been made with the

asked
if

realization of
light

they could provide us widi a

in a

of some kind. After rummaging about

corner of the room, an old

and decrepit lantern with

cracked globe was produced, and when

it

vigorous shaking had revealed that

contained

few

drops

ol oil,
left

it

was

lit,

and with the combined good wishes of the inmates we

doors being shut and bolted on our
heels.

the

house the two

More
ol
light to

buffalo wallows

and more sunken rocks, but with the glimmer

the second
lot

help us

we made good progress and, boding

The Hunters Hunted

69

7U
of steps

The

Man -Eating Leopard

of

Rudraprayag

we had been

instructed to climb,

we mounted them and found

buildings
fast

ourselves in a long courtyard facing a

row of double-storied

extending to the right and to the

shut,

left,

every door of which was

and not

glimmer of

light

showing anywhere.

caUed a door was opened, and by climbing a short flight of we gained the veranda of the upper story, and found the two adjoining rooms which had been placed at the disposal of our men and
stone steps

When we

men were relieving us of the lamp and our rifles a dog arrived from nowhere. He was just a friendly village pye, and after sniffing round our legs and wagging his tail, he went towards the steps up which we had just come. The next second, with a scream of fear followed by hysterical barking, he backed towards us with all his hair on end The lantern we had been lent had died on us as we reached the courtyard, but our men had procured its twin brother.
held
get

ourselves.

While the

Though Ibbotson
he could not

rt

at

all

angles while

hurriedly reloaded

my

rifle,

its

light to illuminate
it

the ground eight feet below.

By watching the dog

leopard.

When

the

was possible to follow the movements of the eopard had crossed

steps leading to the footpath, the

dovvn .ntendy watching in that direction, and growling at intervals. The room that had been vacated for us had no windows, and as the only way which vve cou|d ft ^

dog gradually stopped barking and

^^
lay

*
to

S * decided -I on the spend the mght veranda. The dog evidently belonged to the - -->-t of the room and had been accustomed

7v

d r and eXCludin
'

^ ^^

a11

^ V-

to sleeping there,

ETREAT

i\
-

AT DAYBREAK NEXT
kill,
it,

MORNING WE

very carefully stalked the

and were disappointed

felt

to find that the leopard

had not returned to

which we

sure he would do after his failure to bag one of us the

previous evening.

During the

day,

while Ibbotson dealt with

I

some

office

work
if
I

that

had
a

been sent out to him,

took

a rifle

and went

off to see

could get

shot at the leopard. Tracking

on the hard and pine-needle-covered ground

for the shoulder of the
jungle.
hill
I

was not possible, so

villagers

made

beyond which die

found the ground

had told us there was heavy

for,

Here

very difficult to negotiate,

in addition to

dense scrub jungle through

a series

which

it

was not possible to penetrate, there was

it

of rock

cliffs

on which
area there

was impossible

for a

human

being to find foothold. In

this

was
it
1

a surprisingly large

head of game, and on

pig,

the paths that

a solitary seaao.
trace.

intersected

found die tracks of hakait ghooml,

for a

and

the

leopardexcept
that

no few old scratch-marks I found

The gin-trap

previous had been sent off from Rudraprayag the

evening we having lunch, and in the earry the kill with took it down to the glade and, after setting it. poisoned had Ibbotson, hut in a cyanide. had no experience of poisons, nor
arrived while

we were

72

TKe Man-Earing Leopard of Rudraprayag

conversation with a doctor friend before leaving Naini Tal

that

had mentioned
the man-eater,

Government wanted me
tittle

to try every

means

to

kill

and that there was

use in

my
I

trying poison, as the records

showed

that the leopard dirove

tried,

on

it.

told

him what poisons had

using cyanide,
this

hitherto been

and he then recommended

I

my

w hich
r

was the best

poison for the cat family.

had passed
a

information on to Ibbotson,

and

few days previously

it.

supply had arrived, with capsules with which

kill

to use

We

inserted a few of these capsules in die

eaten.

at the places

where the leopard had

There was every hope of die leopard returning to the

night,

kill this

second

and
sit

as

he had seen us on the tree the previous evening

we decided
which we

not to

up, but to leave

him

to the gin-trap

and

to the poison.

In a big pine-tree near the footpath

we

built a machan,

padded with hay and on which we took up our position

eaten the dinner

after

we had
Here

which Ibbotson cooked on the blue-flame

lie at full

stove.

on the comfortable machan we were able to

smoke,
for

stretch and talk and

our only reason for being there was to

kill.

listen for

sounds from
to hear

the direction of the

We

watched and slept by turns, hoping

if

the angry roar of the leopard

by accident

it

walked into the

trap, for
it.

here there was no well-used track along which to direct die leopard to

Once during
to diat

die night a kakat barked, but in the opposite direction

from which we expected the leopard to come.

first

At the

streak of
a

dawn we climbed out

tea, visited

of the tree and, after

just

brewing ourselves
as

cup of

die

kill,

which we found King

we had

left

it.

Ibbotson

left for

Rudraprayag

after

an

earlv breakfast,

and

was packing

my
the

things and having a final

word with
Tal

the villagers before starting

a party

on mv

fifteen-day journey

back to Naini

when

of

men

arrived to give

news

that a

cow had been

that the

killed

by a leopard in a
killed

village four

miles
for

away.

They suspected

cow had been

by the man-eater,

the previous

nightthe

night the leopard had followed Ibbotson ami

myself from the tree to

tin-

veranda
a

and

towards the small hours of die

morning, the leopard had made

determined attempt to break down the

following evening, the

door

of the
killed

headman's house,
in

late the

cow had
At the

the jungle three

hundred yards from

this house.

Retreat

73

' f

<*;

- *>

9S
ft

##

<?:#;

74

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

urgent request of these

men

postponed
village,

my

departure to Naini Tal and

accompanied them back to their

of poison with me.

taking die gin-trap and a supply

The headman's house was on

land,

a little knoll

surrounded by cultivated
a

and was approached by

footpath which for

I

short distance

ran over soft and boggy ground; here

man-eater.

found the pug- marks of the

The headman had seen me approaching across the

valley

and had

steaming dish of tea brewed in fresh milk and sweetened with jaggery,
waiting tor me. While
courtyard, sitting
I

drank

this rich

and over- sweetened

liquid

on

the

on

a reed

couch upholstered with ghooral

skins,

he drew

my

attention to the condition of the

door which two nights previously

the leopard had attempted to break

down,

in

which attempt

it

would

undoubtedly have succeeded

timber
in die

if

house

he had not fortunately had some sawn

-intended for repairing die

roofwhich

he had

used to shore up the door from inside.

The headman was old and crippled with rheumatism, so he sent his son to show me the kill while he made room in the house for myself
and
I

my men.
found die
kill

young cow

in

grand condition

lving

on

fiat bit

of ground just above the cattle track, in an ideal position for setting up
the gin-trap.
Its

back was against

a tangle

of wild rose-bushes, and

its

hooves were against a foot-high bank; while eating, the leopard had

sat

on the bank with

its

forepaws between the cow's

legs.

Having dug away die ground between the cow's

to a distance,
1

legs

and removed
his

it

set the trap

where the leopard had placed

paws and

covered
earth,
I

it

over with big green leaves. Then, after sprinkling on a layer of

replaced die deal leaves, bits of dry sticks, and splinters of bone

in the exact position

between the cow's

legs in

which
kill

had found them.

Not one of
that the

hundred human beings going to the

in

would have noticed

a

ground had

any way been disturbed, and

deadlv trap

set.

My
i 1

arrangements made to
a tree halt-way
it

my

satisfaction
kill

retraced

mv

steps and

limbed

between die

and die headman's house, where

would be band)
Near sundown

needed

at the trap.
five chicles,

a pair

oihakge pheasants and their brood of

Retreat

75

had been watching for some time, suddenly took alarm and went scuttling down the hill, and a few seconds later a kakar came dashing
which
1

towards

me
hill

and

after barking

under

my

tree for a

little

while,

went
it

off

up the

on

tiptoe.

Nothing happened

after that,

and when

was

getting too dark

of

under the shade of the

trees for

me

to see the sights

my

rifle,

slipped off the tree and myself tiptoed awav on rubbervillage.

shod leet towards the

A hundred
hill

yards from the headman's house the track ran across an

thirty yards long

open glade, some

and twenty yards wide.

As
I

On

the upper,
I

side of the glade

I

was

a big rock.

reached

this

open ground
situation,

felt

was being followed, and, determined to exploit die

left

the track and, taking two long steps over soft and spongy ground,

lay

down behind
kill.

the rock, with only one eye showing in the direction

of the

For ten minutes

but gone
I

lay

on the wet ground. When

daylight had

all

regained die path and, taking every precaution, covered

-^
,"#

the remaining distance to the

headman's house.

Once during
sound sleep to

the night the

headman roused me from

door next morning
of

tell

me

he had heard the leopard scratching

I

^ 3%
St i$

on the door, and when

opened

the

saw the pug-marks of die man-eater

it.

in the dust in front

These pug-marks

followed back to die glade, and

just

found that the leopard had done

the previous evening.
had;
after

what

had done

'--.X

He

had

left

the track

where

had crossed the soft ground to the rock and,

regaining the track, had followed

me

to the n
^

.*'

house, round

which he had walked

several times,

5N

*
-\~

On

leaving the

house the leopard had gone

1

.^

back along the track, and as

followed his puglor

marks towards the

ll

kill

my
a

hopes rose high,

fully realized

P to that time
<>i

had not

the/
.

99-f

?\"
*i. .

cunning that

man-eating leopard

X-^
to
li

'

ll

>

acquire after eight years of close

association with
1

human

beings.

%_>

left

die traa k

and approached front\

4*

&
-^J

ty

76

Th Man-Earing Leopard of Rudraprayag

the high ground, and from a

little

distance away saw diat die

kill

had

gone, and that

for

the ground where the trap had been buried was, except

two pug-marks, undisturbed.

Sitting

on die foot-high bank, as he had done the

first

night, the
this

leopard had put both front paws between the cow's

occasion he had spread
levers of the trap

legs,

but on

them wide

apart

and rested them on the buried

which, released, would have closed the great jaws. Here,

safe

from the

trap,

he had eaten his meal, and when he had done, he

skirted

round the
it

flat

ground and, getting bold of the cow by the head,

it

had dragged

through the rose-diorns and rolled

down

the

hill,

where

fifty

yards lower
his night's

down
him

it

had fetched up against an oak

sapling.
cattle

Content with
track,

work, the leopard had then gone along the

for a mile
I

and

after following

lost his tracks

on hard ground.
kill.

There was no hope of the leopard returning

salve

to the

However,
I

to a

my

conscience for not having done so the previous night,

in the carcass of the cow.

put

liberal

dose of cyanide

Truth to
it

tell

hated

the very thought of using poison then,

I

and

hate

no

less

now.

visited the kill in the

morning and found

that
I

that a leopard had eaten

I

all

that portion of the

cow

had poisoned. So sure was

that the

poison had been eaten by a leopard that had accidentally

the
kill,

come

across
I

and not by the man-eater, that on

my

return to the village

told the
I

headman
a

that

would not

stay to recover the leopard,

it

though
its

would pay

hundred rupees to anyone who found

and took

skin to the patwari.

ot a

A month my men

later the

reward was claimed, and the

skin

leopard which had been dead

did not take

many

days was buried by the potman-

It

long to pack up, and shortlv after mid-day

to Naini Tal.

we

started

on our long journey back

As we went down

narrow footpath
the path, and as

to the Chatwapipal bridge a big rat snake leisurely crossed

I

stood and watched

'There goes the

it

slip

away Maclho Singh, who was

behind me,
for

said,

evil

spirit that has

been responsible

your

failure.'

My
eater

action in leaving Garhwal to the tender mercies of die

heartless to you

man-

may appear

it

did so to

me

and was

adversely

criticized in the press, for the leopard at that

in the Indian papers. In

time was daily mentioned

that an effort entailing

extenuation

would urge

Retreat

77

great Strain cannot

hours in

be indefinitely sustained. There were twenty-four every day of the many weeks I spent in Garhwal, and time and
sitting

time again after

distant \-illages

up

all

night,

walked endless miles next

day, visiting

from which reports had come of unsuccessful

attacks

by

the man-eater.

On many

moonlit nights, when

sitting in

an uncomfortable
sitting

position physical endurance had reached

it

its limit,

and when

where

me I had no my eyes open. I had for hours walked the roads which were alone open to me and to the leopard, trying every trick I knew of to outwit my adversary, and the man-eater had, with luck bevond
for the leopard to have got at

would have been easy

longer been able to keep

his deserts

or with devilish cunning, avoided the bullet that

a press

of

my

finger

would have sent

into him, for

I

on retracing

my

steps in the

morning

after these night excursions

I

had found from the pug-marks

I

on the road that

To

was

right in

assuming

had been

closely followed.

know

that one

is

being followed

at night

moon may be
by repetition.

no

matter

how

bright the

by a man-eater intent on securing a victim, gives one

is

an inferiority complex that

very unnerving, and that

is

not mitigated

Tired out in

mind and
that the

in body,

my

longer stay
it

at

Rudraprayag would

not have profited the people of Garhwal, and

might have cost

me my

own
task

life.

Knowing

temporary abandonment of

my

self-imposed
I

would be severely
I

criticized

by the press, but that what

was now

doing was right,

the people of

plodded on towards
I

my

distant

home, having assured

Garhwal that

would return

to help

them

as

soon

as

it

was possible for

me

to

do

so.

FISHING INTERLUDE

LEFT THE SCENE OF

MY

failure,

weary and

dispirited, in the

late
full

autumn of 1925, and returned

to continue

my

labour, refreshed and

of hope, in the early spring of 1926.

On

this

my

second

visit

to

Garhwal in pursuit of the man-eater,

travelled

by

train to

Kotdwara and went from there by foot to

Pauri,

Pauri, thus

saving eight days

on the journey At
to Rudraprayag.

Ibbotson joined

me

and

accompanied
During
killed ten

me

my

three months' absence

from Garhwal the man-eater had

human

beings, and during these three

months no attempt had

kill

been made by the terror- stricken inhabitants to

the leopard.

The

last

of these ten

kills

the victim was a small boy

had
we

taken

place on the left

bank of the Alaknanda, two days before our

had received telegraphic news of this
as last as
it

arrival at

Rudraprayag.

We

kill at

Pauri, and

though we had travelled

was possible

for us to do,

were

disappointed to learn from the patnari,

at

who was

awaiting our

arrival
kill

the Inspection Bungalow, that the leopard disposed of the entire

its

the previous night, leaving nothing of

we small victim over which

could

sit.

The boy had been

killed at

midnight

in a village

four miles ln>m

Fishing Interlude

79

Rudrapravag,
river after his

.\m\ as

it

was unlikely that the leopard had crossed the

undisturbed feed,

we took

steps immediately

on our

arriv J

to close the

two suspension bridges.

efficient intelligence
If in

During the winter Ibbotson had organized a very

service throughout the area in
this

which the man-eater was operating.

area a dog, goat, cow, or

to force

human

being was

killed,

or an attempt

news of the occurrence was conveyed to us by the service, and in this way we were able to keep in constant touch with the man-eater. Hundreds of false rumours of alleged attacks by
a door,

made

open

the

man-eater were brought to

us, entailing endless miles of walking,

but diis was only to be expected, for in an area in which an established

man-eater

is

operating everyone suspects their

at night
is

own

shadows, and every

sound heard

attributed to tke man-eater.

One

of these rumours concerned a

man by

the

name

of Galtu, a
right

resident of Kunda, a village seven miles

from Rudraprayag on the

bank of the Alaknanda. Galtu

left

the village in the evening to spend the

village,

night in his cattle shed a mile

away from the

and when

his

son

went
half

to the

shed next morning he found

his father's blanket half in

and

out of the door of the shed, and in a patch of soft ground nearby

he found

what he thought was drag mark, and near

Returning to the
village

it

the pug- marks of

the man-eater.
sixty

he raised an alarm, and while

men went

off to search for the body, four

I

men were
men

dispatched to

Rudraprayag to inform us. Ibbotson and

left

were beating

a hillside

on the
as
I

bank of the

river for the

man-eater when the

arrived,
river,

and

was convinced that the leopard was on our side of the

then-

and that
Ibbotson

was no truth

in the

rumour

that Galtu

had been

killed,

sent a patwari

make
the

instructions to back to Kunda with the four men, with evening we received personal search and report back to us. Next

soft earth near patwans report, with a sketch of the pug-marks in the search of the the door of the shed. The report stated that an all-day resulted in finding surrounding country, with two hundred men, had not The sketch Gaita's remains, and that the search would be continued. Hve equa ) sHowed six circles, the inner one as large as a plate, with circles had xen spaced circles round it, each the size of a tea cup; all the

**de with

compass, hive days

later,

and

just as

Ibbotson and

were

The

Man -Eating

Leopard of Rudraprayag

setting out to

sit

up on the tower

of the bridge, a procession

came up

to

the bungalow led by an irate

man who was

protesting loudly that he had

to

committed no offence that

Rudraprayag.

justified his

being arrested and brought

The

irate

man was

Galtu. After
just as

we had

pacified him, he
his

gave us his story.

night he

It

appeared diat

he was leaving

house on the
his

was

alleged to have

been carried off by the man-eater,

son

arrived and informed

him

that

he had paid Rs 100 tor a pair ol bullocks

which Galtu asserted were not worth more than Rs 70. The wanton
waste of good

money had

so angered

him

that, alter sleeping the night

village

in the cattle shed,

he had got up early next morning and gone to a

living.

ten miles away, where a married daughter ol his was

On

his return

to his village that morning, he had been arrested by the patwari, and he

wanted to know what crime he had committed

It

that justified his arrest.

was some

little

time before he saw the

so,

humour of

the situation, but

once having done

at the

he laughed

as heartily as

any of die assembled throng

thought of an important person

five

like a patwari,

and two hundred

of his friends, searching for

days for his remains, what time he was

cooling off in a village ten miles away.

Ibbotson was averse to lying

all

night
as

on the wind-swept tower of

the

Rudraprayag suspension bridge, and

wood and

carpenters were available,

he had

a platform built in the arch of the tower,

and on
at

this

platform we

sat for die five nights

Ibbotson was able to spend

Rudraprayag.

After Ibbotson's departure the leopard killed one dog, four goats,

and two cows. The dog and goats had been eaten out on the nights on which they had been killed, but I sat over each of the cows for two
nights.

On

the second night

on which
I

was

sitting

up over the

first

cow, the leopard came, but just as

to switch

was

on the torch
I

had provided
sitting in,

my rifle and myself with, a woman in

raising

preparing
the house

adjoining die one

was

thumped on

the door preparatory to

opening

it,

and unfortunately frightened the leopard away

beings had been killed during this period, but a

No human

woman

the and her baby had been badly mauled. The leopard had forced open and seizing door oi live room in which she was sleeping with her baby

her

arm had attempted

to drag her out

of the room.
lost

The

woman

fortunately was stout of heart,

and had not fainted or

her wits, and

Fishing Interlude

81

after the

leopard

dragging her along the floor

it,

had

hacked out of

the

room, she shut the door on

several

and escaped with

a badly lacerated

arm and

deep wounds on her

I

breast, while the babv escaped

with one head wound,

sat in this

room

for the following

two

nights,

but the leopard did not return.

I

was returning one day towards the

latter

end of March,
I

after visiting
a spot

a village

on

the Kedarnath pilgrim route, when, as

approached

where the road runs close alongside the Mandakini

is

river,

and where there

sitting

water

fall

ten to twelve feet high,

fall

saw

number of men
river,

on
a

the rock at the head of the

on

the far side of the

armed with

triangular net attached to a long

bamboo

pole.
I

The

roar of the water

die rocks

prevented conversation, so leaving the road

sat

down on
for
I

on
for

my

side of the

fall,

to have a rest and a

smoke

had walked

that day-

and

to see

what the men were doing.

Presendy one of the

men

got to his

feet,

and

as

he pointed down
fall,

excitedly into the foaming white water at the foot of the

two of

his

companions manning the long pole held the

fall.

triangular net close to the

large shoal of mahseer fish, varying in size

fall.

from

five to fifty

pounds,

were attempting to leap the

weight, leapt clear of the
in the net. After the fish

fall

One of these fish, about ten pounds in and when falling back was expertly caught
in a basket, the
I

had been extracted and placed

fall.

net was again held out close to the

an hour, during
saihe size

watched the sport

fish, all

for about

which time the men caught four

pounds.

about the
*

-ten

~^~ui,

"""

82

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

On mv

previous

visit

to Rudraprayag

had been informed by the

that there

^howkidar in charge of the Inspection

fishing in the spring

Bungalow

was good
both the second

before the snow-water came

rivers, so
I

down

in

Alaknanda and Mandakini

visit

had come armed on

this

my

with

fourteen-foot split cane salmon rod, a silex reel with two

titty

hundred and

yards ot line, a few stout traces, and an assortment of

home-made
The
I

brass spoons varying in size

from one
in

to

two inches.

following

morning

as

no news had come

of the man-eater

set off for the waterfall

with

my

rod and tackle.

No
day,

fish

were leaping the

tall

as they

had been doing the previous

a

and the

men on

the far side of the river were sitting in

a

group
to

round

a small fire

smoking

hookah which was passing from hand

hand. Thev watched

me

with interest.
a pool thirty to forty yards wide, flanked

Below the
both sides by

waterfall
a wall

was

on

of rock, and about two hundred yards long, one

visible

hundred yards of which was

the pool.

from where

stood

at

the head ot
crystal-clear.

The water

in this beautiful

and imposing pool was

The rock

face at the

head of the pool rose sheer up out of the water

to a height ot twelve feet, and after keeping at this height for twenty
yards, sloped gradually

upwards

to a height of a

hundred

feet. It

was not

possible to get

down

to water level

anywhere on

my

side of the pool,

nor would
I

it

be possible, or profitable,

hooked one

to follow a fish

assuming

that

along the bank, for at the top of the high ground there
at

were trees and bushes, and

the

tail

of the pool the river cascaded

down

in a

foaming torrent

to

its

junction with the Alaknanda. To land a

fish in diis

pool would be a difficult and a hazardous task, but the crossing

fish

of that bridge could be deferred until the

hail
(

had been hooked

and

not yet put together

>n

my

rod.

mv

siik-

small bubbles

of the pool the water

shot dirouuh with millions of

a shingle

-was deep,

and from about half-way across

to six feet of

bottom
this

was showing, over which lour

shingle bottom, ever) stone

water was Bowing. Above

and pebble of which was

visible in the clear

water, a

number of

Ush, ranging in size

from three to ten pounds, were

slowly

moving upstream.
I

As

watched these

fish,

standing on the rocks twelve feet above the

Fishing Interlude

83

84

The Man- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

water with
in

two-inch spoon mounted with

flight

a single

strong treble hook

mv

hand, a

of fingerlings flashed out of the deep water and went

shingle bottom, hotly pursued by diree big mahseer.
as friend

skimming over the

Using the good salmon rod

should be used
I

Hardy had never intended

that

it

and

as

it

had been used on many previous occasions

slung the spoon out, and in

my

eagerness over-estimated the distance,

far side

with the result that the spoon struck the rock on the

of the pool,

about two feet above the water. The

falling

of the spoon into the water

coincided widi the arrival of the fingerlings at the rock, and the spoon

had hardly touched the water, when

Striking with a long line
strain,

it

was taken by the leading

entails a

mahseer.

from an elevated position

strain,

very heavy

but

my good

rod stood the

and the strong treble hook was

firmly fixed in the mahseer's mouth. For a

moment

or two the

fish did
in

not appear to realize what had happened

the water with his white belly towards
to side, and then, possibly frightened
his head,

as,

standing perpendicularly
his

me, he shook

head from

side

by the dangling spoon

striking against

he gave a mighty splash and went tearing downstream,

scattering

in

all

directions the smaller fish that

first

were
a

lying

on the

shingle bottom.
line off the reel,

In his

run the mahseer ripped

carried

hundred yards of
for anodier
fifty

and

after a

moment's check
still

on

yards.

There was
the bend

plenty of line

on

the reel, but the fish had

tail
I

now gone round

and was getting dangerously near die and tightening the

his

of the pool. Alternately easing

strain

on the

line,

eventually succeeded in turning

head upstream, and having done

so,

very gendy pulled him round die

I

bend, into the hundred yards of water

Just
this

was overlooking.
into

below

me

a projection
fish, after

of rock had formed a backwater, and

backwater the

half an hour's

game

fight,

permitted himself

to lie drawn.
I

had

now

very definitely reached

my

bridge and had just regretfully

it,

decided
be cut

that, as there

was no way of crossing

fell

the fish would have to

adrift,

when
in the

shadow

across the rock beside me. Peering over

the rock into the backwater, the

new

arrival

remarked
1

that

it

was

a very
it

big

fish,
I

and
told

same breath asked what

it

was going to do about

to

When
e

him

that

would not be possible

draw the

fish

up

the
it

cut of the rock, and that therefore the onlv thing to do was to

Fishing Interlude

85

tree,

he said, 'Wait, sahib,

stripling

will fetch

my

and lanky
out a

with dancing eyes

brother.' His brother

a long

had quite evidendy been cleaning

cow shed when summoned,

lest

so telling
the

him

to
I

go upstream and
held council with

wash himself

he should

slip

on

smoodi

rock,

the elder man.

Stalling
irregularly

from where we were standing,

a crack, a

few inches wide, ran

down

the face ol the rock, ending a foot above the water in a

ledge

some

six inches wide.

The plan we

finally

agreed

on was

that the

stripling

wa ter

who presendy
should go

returned with his arms and legs glistening with

to the ledge, while the elder brother
left

down

went down
I

the crack far

enough

to get hold of die stripling's

hand, while

lay

on the rock holding the elder brother's other hand. Before embarking
on the plan
fish
I

asked the brothers whether they knew

how

to handle a

and whether they could swim, and received the laughing answer had handled
fish

that thev

and

swum
I

in the river

from childhood.
at the

The snag

in the plan

was that

could not hold the rod and

same time make a

so
I

link in the chain.

However, some
in

risk

had

to

be taken,

put the rod

down and

held the line

I

my

hand, and

when

the

brothers had taken up position

sprawled on the rock and, reaching

I

down, got hold of the elder brothers hand. Then very gently
fish

drew the hand and

to

towards the rock, holding the line alternately with

my

left

with

my

teeth.
fish,

There was no question that die

stripling

knew how

handle a
his

had inserted for before the fish had touched the rock, he

thumb

into

one side of the

fish's throat.
its

gills

and

his fingers into die other, getting

a firm grip

on the

Up

to this point the fish had been quite

seized,
it

amenable, but on having

it

duoat

lashed out, and for seconds

river.

the appeared that the diree of us would go headlong into

Both brothers were bare-footed, and when

the necessity of holding the line

had been relieved of

and was

able to help with both hands,

their

they turned and, facing the rock,

worked

way up with

their toes,

while

pulled lustily from

the fish at
last

on

top.
safely landed,
I

When

had been

asked the brothers

it

they ate fish,

they most certain y and on receiving their eager answer that them the fash we did, when they could get any, I told them I would give little over thirt> had just landeda mahseer in grand condition weighing a

Man-Eating Leoparc

pounds

if

they would help

me

to land another fish for

my men. To

this

thev very readily agreed.

The
and
as

treble

had bitten deep into the leathery underlip of the mahseer,

out, the brothers
il

cut

it

watched

interestedly.
it.

When
The

the

hook
in

was

free,

they asked

they might have a look at

Three hooks
bit

one, such a thing had never been seen in their

brass of course acted as a sinker.

village.

of bent

With what were the hooks

it

baited?

Why

should

fish

want to

eat brass?

And was

really brass,
its

or some kind of
three swivels, had
sit

hardened

bait?

When
I

die spoon, and the trace with

at,
I

been commented on and marvelled

made the brothers

fish.

down

and watch while

set

about catching the second

The

biggest fish in the pool

were

at the foot

of the

fall,

but here

in

the foaming white water, in addition to mahseer

were some very

big
is

goonch, a

fish that takes a

spoon of dead

bait very readily,

and which

responsible for
its

90 per cent of the

tackle lost in our

hill rivers

through
and

annoying habit of diving to the bottom of the pool

its

when hooked
difficult,

getting

head under

rock from where

it.

it is

always

and often

impossible, to dislodge

No
was

better spot than the place from

where

had made

mv

first cast

available, so

here

again took

up

my

position, with rod in

hand and

spoon held ready

for casting.

The

fish

on the

shingle

bottom had been disturbed while

was

plaving

the mahseer and by our subsequent

movements on the

face of the rock

but were

now

beginning to return, and presently an exclamation from

die brothers, and an excited pointing of fingers,

big
fish

drew mv

attention to

downstream where the shingle bottom ended and the deep water
I

began. Before
in the

was able

to

make

a cast, the fish

it

turned and disappeared

it

deep water, but

1

a little later a east,

reappeared, and as

came

into the
cast

shallow water
fell

made

but owing to the line heinw wet the

short.

The second

cast

was beautifully placed and beautifully timed,

the spoon striking the water exactly

where
sink,
I

wanted

it

to.

Waiting
in
it

for a
linein

second to give the spoon time to

giving the
little

started to
as

wind
I

the

spoon

just

the right

amount of spin, and

drew

along

jerks, the mahseer

shot forward, and next

moment, with
fell

the

hook

firmly fisted in his

mouth, jumped clean out of the water,

back with

Fishing Interlude

87

l,

and went madly downstream, much to the excitement of

tor

'.ators,

the

men on

tile

far

bank had been watching the

peelings as intently as the brothers.

S

the reel spun round and the line paid out, the brothers

standing one

on

either side of
trail

me

now
not

-urged

me

not to

let

the fish go
it is

down

the run at the

of die pool. Easier said than done, for

ble to stop the first

mad

rush of a mahseer of any

size

with risking
in,

certain break, or the tearing

away of the hook-hold. Our luck was

or else the fish feared the run, for

of line

when

there was less dian

fifty

yards

on

the reel

he checked, and though he continued to

into the
little

fight

gamely

he was eventually

drawn round the bend, and

backwater at

the foot of the rock.

The landing of
the first

this

second

fish

was not

as difficult as the landing

of

had been, for we each knew our places on the rock and exacdy

what to do.

Both
than the
village

fish

were the same

length, but the

second was
set off in

little

heavier
for his

first,

and while the elder brother

fish carried

triumph

with his

over his shoulder

he had

made

threaded on a grass cable

die stripling begged to be allowed to accompany

me
rod.
a

back to the Inspection Bungalow, and to carry both

my

fish

and

my

Having in the days of long ago been a boy myself, and having had
brother

who

fished, there
'If

was no need
will let

for the stripling

when making Ms
fish

request to have said,

you

me

carry both the

all
I

and the rod,

and

will

walk

a little

distance behind me, sahib,

in the bazaar, will think that

the people

who

see

me on
fish,

the road,

and

have caught

this great

the like of

which they have never

seen.'

DEATH OF A GOAT

IBBOTSON RETURNED FROM PAURI ON

a

the

last

day of March,

and the following morning, while we were having breakfast,

we

received

report that a leopard had called very persistently the previous night
a village to

near
place

the north-west of Rudraprayag, about a mile from the

killed the leopard in the gin-trap.
village,

where we had
a

Half

mile to the north of the

and on the shoulder of the

great mountain, there

was a considerable area of rough and broken ground

caves,

where there were enormous rocks and

and deep holes

in

which

the locals said their forefathers had quarried copper. Over the whole of
this area there

was scrub

jungle, heavy in

some

places and light in others,

fields

extending

down
village.

the hillside to within half a mile of the terraced

above the
I

had long suspected that the man-eater used

this

ground
I

as a hide-

out

when he was
oi finding

in the vicinity

of Rudraprayag, and

had frequently
in the

climbed to a commanding position above the broken ground

hope

him basking on the rocks

in the early

morning
it

sun, for
a very

leopards are very fond of doing this in a cold climate, and

is

common way

of shooting them, for

all

that

is

needed

is

a little patience,

and accuracy of aim.

Death of a Goal

89

After an early lunch Ibbotson and

rifles,

set

out armed with our .275

and accompanied by one of Ibbotson's

men

carrying a short length

of rope. At the village having killed

all

we purchased
I

young male goat

the leopard

the goats that

had purchased from time

to time.
hill

From

the village, a rough goat track ran straight up the

it

to the

edge of the broken ground, where

the face of the hill for a

turned

left,

and

after

running across

hundred yards carried on round the shoulder

it

of the mountain.

The

track where

ran across the

hill

was bordered

on the upper side by scattered bushes, and on the steep lower side by
short grass.

Having tied the goat to a peg firmly driven into the ground
bend
in the track,

at the

about ten yards below the scrub jungle,

fifty

we went down
some
big rocks,

the hill for a

hundred and

yards to where there were

ourselves.

behind which
callers
I

we concealed

The goat was one of the

and piercing
for he

best

have ever heard, and while his

shrill

bleat continued

there
tied

was no necessity for us to watch him,

had been very securely

and there was no

possibility of the leopard carrying

him

away.

The sun

a fiery red

ballwas

a hand's breadth

from the snow

the

mountains above Kedarnath when

rocks,

and half an hour

later,

we took up our position behind when we had been in shadow for a

saw the goat with

tew

.minutes, the goat suddenly stopped calling. Creeping to the side of the

rock and looking through a screen of grass,

cocked, looking up towards the bushes; as
his head,
I

ears

watched, the goat shook

and backed to the

full

length of the rope.

attracted by the calling of the

The leopard had undoubtedly come,

goat,

and that he had not pounced before the goat became aware of his presence was proof that he was suspicious. Ibbotson's aim would be more
accurate than mine, for his
rifle

was

fitted

with a telescopic
raised his
rifle
I

sight,

so

made room
to

for him,

and

as

he lay

down and

whispered

him examine

carefully the bushes in the direction in

I

which the goat

was looking, for

all

felt

sure that
it

if

the goat could see the

leopard and

the indications were that

it

could Ibbotson

should also be able to

to

his eve powerful telescope. For minutes Ibbotson kept and made the telescope and then shook his head, laid down the rifle,

through

his

room

for

me.

90

The

Man -Eating Leopard

of

Rudraprayag

The goat was standing

last

in exactly the

same position
I

in

which

had

seen

it,

and taking direction from

which
it

it

fixed the telescope

on the

same bush
least

at

was looking. The

flicker

of an eyelid, or the very

movement of

ear or even whiskers, would have been visible through

I

the telescope, but though

also

watched

for

minutes

too could see

nothing.

When
on the

took

my

eye away from the telescope

noted that the

light

was rapidly

fading,

and that die goat

now showed
to go

as a

red-and-white blur

hillside.

We

had

a long

way

and waiting longer would be

both useless and dangerous, so getting to

time for us to make a move.

my

feet

told Ibbotson

it

was

Going up

to the goat

had not made a

leading
it

who from soundwe from

freed
it

the time he had stopped bleating

the peg, and with the

man

we

set off for the village.

its

The goat

quite evidendv had never

led, so

had
I

rope round

neck before and objected violendy to being

told the
is

man

to take the rope off

my experience being
in the jungle,

that

when

goat

freed after having

been

tied

up

through fear or

for

want

of

companionship
its

it

follows at heel like a dog. This goat, however,

had ideas of
its

own, and no sooner had the

it

man removed

the rope from

neck, dian
It

turned and ran up the track.

a calling goat to

was too good

abandon

it

had attracted the leopard

once, and might do so again. Moreover,

paid good

we had

only a few hours previously

money

for

it,

so

we

in

turn ran up the track in hot pursuit. At

left,

the bend, the goat turned to the

to the track, as the goat

and we

lost sight

of

it.

Keeping
hill

had done, we went to the shoulder of the

hill,

where

considerable extent of the

clothed in short grass, was

visible,

and as the goat was nowhere

in sight

we

decided

it

had taken a short

I

cut
as

back to die

village,

and started

to retrace

our

steps.

was leading, and

we

got half-way along the hundred vards of track, bordered on the upper

side by scattered bushes

and on the steep lower side bv short

in front

grass,

saw

something white on the track

of me. The
I

light

had nearly gone,

it

and on cautiously approaching the white object

laid

found

was the goat which

it

head and

tail

on the narrow
laid to

track, in the only position in

it

could have been

prevent

from

rolling

down

the steep hillside

Death of a Goal

91

Blood was oozing from

muscles were
It
still

its

throat,

and when

placed

my hand on

it

the

twitching.

was as though the man-eater for no other leopard would have killed the goat and laid it on the track had said, 'Here, if you want your goat so badly, take it; and as it is now dark and you have a long

way
I

to go,

we

will see
all

which of you

lives to

reach the

village.'
if I

do not think

three of us would have reached the village alive

a full

had not, very fortunately, had

that

box of matches with me (Ibbotson

a

at

time was a non-smoker). Striking

all

match and
steps,

casting an anxious
striking

look

round and taking

few hurried

and then again

another match,
calling distance

we Stumbled down
of the
village.

the rough track until

at

we

got to within

Then,

our urgent summons,

us.
it,

men

with

lanterns

and pine torches came up to meet

left

We
I

had

die goat lying where die leopard had placed

I

and when

returned at a daybreak next morning

found the pug-marks of the

to the village,
left
it.

man-eater where he had followed us

the goat

down

and

found

untouched and

lying just as

we had

CYANIDE POISONING

AS

WAS RETURNING TO THE

had been

Inspection Bungalow after visiting

I

the goat that

village that

killed the previous night,

was informed

in the

my

presence was urgently needed at Rudraprayag, for news

killed a

had

just

been received that the man-eater had

human

being the
as

previous night.
to

My

informants were unable to give

place, but as the

me
it

any particulars

where the

kill

had taken

pug-marks of the manhad gone back up

eater

showed

that, after following us to the village,

I

the goat track and turned right at the bend,

later

assumed-

found

rightly,, as

that the leopard, after failing to

bag one of

us,

had secured

a victim farther

up the mountain-side.
I

At the bungalow
the

found Ibbotson in conversation with a

man

by

name of Nand Ram. Nand Ram's village was about four where we had sat the previous evening. Half a mile above
and on the
tar side

miles from
this village

of a deep ravine, a

man

of the depressed

class,

named

Gawiya, had cleared a small area of forest land and built himself a house
in

which he

lived

with his mother, wife, and three children. At daybreak

that

morning, Nand

Ram

had heard the wailing of

women

from

the

direction of Gawiya's house and,

on

his

shouting out and asking what

was wrong, he had been informed

that 'the

man

of the house' had been

Cyanide Poisoning

93

carried off In the man-eater half an

hour

previously.

With

this

information

Nand Ram had come

hot-foot to the Inspection Bungalow.

Ibbotson had had the Arab and the English mare saddled, and after we had eaten a good meal we set out, with Nand Ram
to

show

us the
as to

way There were no roads on the

the big English

hill, only goat and catde tracks, and mare found the hairpin bends on these tracks difficult

negotiate

we

sent the horses back and did the rest of the hot and steep

climb on foot.

Arrived at the

little

women

who appeared
still

isolated clearing in the forest, the

two distracted

to be nursing the

house' might

be

alive

showed
when

hope that the 'man of the

us where Gawiya had been sitting

near the door of the house

the leopard had seized him.

The

leopard

had caught the unfortunate

man
him

by the throat, thus preventing him from

making any sound, and

him.

after dragging

him

for a

hundred yards had

to a
little

killed

Then he had

carried

for four

hundred yards

hollow

surrounded by dense brushwood. The wailing of the

shouting of
lor

women

and the

Nand Ram had

evidently disturbed the leopard at his meal,

a

he had only eaten the throat and jaw, and

small portion of one

shoulder and thigh.

There were no trees within sight of the

kill

on which we could

sit,

so

we poisoned

the

kill
it

with cyanide

at the three places

where the leopard

position

had eaten, and as

was

now

getting towards evening

we took up

on

a hill several

hundred yards awav, from where we could over look die

kill

hollow in which the

the

was

lying.

The leopard was undoubtedly

lav in

in

dense brushwood, but though

we

our concealed position and

watched for two hours,

we saw

nothing of him. At dusk

we

lit

the lantern

we had provided ourselves with, and went back

to the bungalow.
it

We

were up very
sat

early next

morning, and

was

just getting light

when we again

down on
when

the

hill

over-looking the hollow.

We

saw and
to the

heard nothing, and

kill;

the sun had been

up an hour, we went

the leopard

had not touched the three places where we had buried

leg,
it

the poison,

but had eaten the other shoulder and

a

and had then carried

the

body away for

short distance and hidden

kill

under some bushes.

sit,

Again there were no trees overlooking the

and after a prolonged discussion

on which we. could

we

eventually decided that while Ibbotson

96

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

htm where
his

wanted

to.

For seconds

watched the path, expecting

to see

head appear from behind the screen of branches, and then, when
I

tension was becoming unbearable,

heard him jump

down
For

off the path

a

and come diagonally across the

thought he had
in

hill

towards

my

tree.

moment

some mysterious way become aware of my presence

last kill,

on

the tree and, not liking the flavour of his

was intent on securing

another

human

victim.
at

His object, however, in leaving the path was

not to try to get

me

but to take

short cut

down

to the spring,
I

for he passed die foot of the tree without a pause,

and next second

heard him eagerly and noisily lapping water.

From

the leopard's behaviour

I

on

the

hill,

and from the way he was

himself, but not having
I

now how

drinking,

was convinced he had poisoned

effect
act.
I

had any previous experience of the

of cyanide,

did not know-

long the poison would take to

For ten minutes after the

leopard had stopped drinking, and just as he had died

the ravine,
at the spring,
I

was beginning
hill

to

hope

that

heard him going up the

on the

far side

of

all

sound ceasing when he regained the path which carried on

hill.

round the shoulder of the

At no time, either

when

the leopard was coming

across the
hill
hill

down

the path,-

coming down the depression, coining

tree,

to die foot

of

my

when
1

drinking, or going

up the

on the

far side

of the ravine,

had

seen him, for either by accident or intent he had kept under

cover to which not a glint of moonlight had penetrated.

There was now no hope of

my

getting a shot, but this was not of

much account

if

the poison was as potent as the doctor in Naini Tal

it

had claimed that

was.
I

sat

on

for the rest of the night, watching

the path

and listening

for sounds. At davlight

Ibbotson returned, and while

ourselves
tea
I

we brewed
oi

very

welcome cup

told

him of the

night's

happenings.

On

visiting the

kill

we
a

found
leg

diat the leopard

had eaten the

from which he had taken

small

Cyanide Poisoning

97

in which we had buried a full dose of poison, and that he had in addition eaten two other doses of poison, one from the left shoulder and the other from the back.
It

portion two nights previously, and

was now necessary to make

a search for the leopard,

and

for this

purpose the pa&mri,

who had

returned with Ibbotson, set off to collect

men. At about midday the patwari returned with two hundred men, and widi these we made a line and beat die whole side of the hill in the
direction in

which the leopard had gone.

thirst,

Half a mile from where the leopard had quenched his

the direct line in

and in

which

had heard him going away, there were some

a cave extending far into the

big rocks at die foot of

hill,

which there was

with an opening large enough to admit a leopard. Near the mouth

of this cave the leopard had scratched up the ground, and rid himself
of his victim's toes

which
sealed
it

he had swallowed whole.

hillside,

Willing hands brought loose stones from the

left

and when we

the cave

we had
in
I

it

beyond

all

possibility

of any leopard that

might be lurking

escaping.
a roll

Next morning

returned with

of one-inch wire-netting and a

number of

iron tent-pegs, and, after removing die stones, very effectively

wired up the
visited

mouth of

the cave. Thereafter for the following ten days

the cave

morning and
in

evening, and as during this period no

news of the man-eater came

Alaknanda,

from any

village

on

the

lett

bank of the
next
visit
I

my

hopes each day grew stronger that on

my

would surely get some indication that the leopard had died

in the eave.

On
where
the
five

the tenth morning,

I

when

returned from

my

visit to

the cave

had found die netting undisturbed Ibbotson greeted

that a

me

with

news

woman

had been

killed the previous night in a village

miles away, and about a mile above the Rudrapravag-Badrinath

pilgrim road.

Quite evidently cyanide was not the right poison lor an animal that had tin- reputation of thriving on, and being stimulated by, arsenic and strychnine, That the leopard had eaten the cyanide there could be no
<ioubt whatever, nor
for his hairs

was there any doubt

to the rock

that he had entered the cave,

were adhering
it

where

his

back had come

in

contact with

when

entering the cave.

98

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

An
effect

overdose might account for the poison not having had the desired
a

and

second opening somewhere farther up the

hill

might account

for his escape

from the

cave.

Even

so,

it

was no longer any matter of

a

surprise to

mewho

had only been acquainted with the leopard for

few short months

and intimate association with him

animal or
spirit

that the people of Garhwal,

who had

lived in close

for eight long years,

should credit him

with supernatural powers, and that they should cling

to the belief that nothing but fire

would

rid

them of

this evil spirit.

i\\m\

kit lit

^4goJSp"o*i"*cffl?; --

;*s

r.

TOUCH AND GO

NEWS THAT

IS

OF IMPORTANCE TO

every individual travels

fast,

and during the past ten days everyone in Garhwal had heard of the
poisoning of the man-eater, and of our hope that
a cave. It

we had

sealed

it

up

in

was natural therefore

for risks to have

been taken, and quite

effects of the poison
first

evidently the leopard, having recovered

from the

and found a
taking a risk.

way out of the

cave,

had found the

person

who was
visit to

We

had the day before and

us, for

had returned

early

from

my

the cave,

after breakfast,
rifles,

mounted on Ibbotson's
out for the
village

surefooted horses

and carrying our

we

set

where the woman was

went

reported to have been killed.

After a fast ride

up the pilgrim road we took

and
a

a track that

diagonally across the hill,

from the village joined

of blood.

it,

there were

mile along this track, where the path signs of a struggle and a big pool

Hie headman, and

Ullage,

relatives

of the victim, were waiting for us

at the

she

woman as and they showed us where the leopard had seized the this was in the act of closing the door of her house behind her. From
had dragged the

point the leopard

woman

along on her back for a hundred

100

The Mon-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

raids to the junction of the tracks,

after a violent struggle

where he had released

his hold,

and

had

killed her.

The people

in die village

had heard
as

the

woman's screams

as she
life

was being dragged along the ground and

she was struggling for her

to render any help.

with the leopard, but had been too frightened

When

the

woman was
on the

dead, the leopard had picked her up and carried

her over some waste land, across an open ravine a hundred yards wide,

and up the

hill

far side for

another two hundred yards. There

trail

were no drag marks, but die blood

to a flat bit of

was easy to

follow,

and

it

led us

ground, four feet wide and twenty feet long.

strip of

On

the upper

side of diis
feet high

narrow

ground there was

perpendicular bank eight

it,

with a stunted medlar-tree growing on

hill
fell

and on die lower side

it

of the narrow strip the

steeply away,

and growing on

was

wild rose-bush, which had reached

up and smothered the medlar- tree.

Lyin^ huddled up between the steep bank and the rose-bush, with her

head against the bank, with every vestige of clothing stripped from her, and with her naked body flecked with white rose-petals that had fallen

from above was the

For

kill

an old grey-haired

lady,

seventy years of age.

life,

this pitiful kill

leopard would have to pay with his

and

alter a

short council of war, Ibbotson, leading the spare horse, returned to

Rudraprayag for the

tilings

we

needed, while

set off

with

my

rifle

to see

whedier

it

was possible to make contact with the man-eater

in daylight.

This part of the country was

to reconnoitre the ground.
the
hill
I

new

to

me, and the

first

thing to

do w as

had already noted while

at the village that

went

steeply

up from the

ravine to a height of four to live thousand

hill

feet; that

about two thousand feet of the top of the

forest,

was clothed widi

of short
jungle.

dense oak and pine

below which was an open stretch

grass about half a mile wide,

and that below the grass was scrub

I

Keeping

now

to Uie

edge of the grass and scrub jungle

went round

the shoulder of the

hill,

and found

in front

of

me

wide depression.

extending for half a mile

in die days of long ago

down
at

to the pilgrim road,

this

and evidendy caused

by a landslide. Bevund

depression, which was

about

hundred yards wide

it

the upper end and about three hundred

the

yards wide where

met the road,

oround was open. The ground

in
a

the depression was damp, and grov\ina on this

damp ground were

Touch and

Go

101

number of

big trees*

and under die

tree a

dense growth of scrub

jungle.

At the upper end of the depression was

in

a cliff

of overhanging rock, varying

height horn twenty to forty feet, and about a hundred yards long; halfcliff

way along the

was

deep

cleft a

few feet wide,

a

down which

a tiny

stream was trickling. Above the rocks was

narrow

belt of scrub jungle,

and above that again, open grassland.

I

had reconnoitred the ground with care, for

leopard

which
my

did not want the

was convinced was

it

lying

up
It

in the

depression

to be

aware of

presence before

suited

me.

was now necessary

be
lying up,

to find

approximately where the leopard was most

gain diis information
I

likely to

and to

went back

to the
it

kill.

We

had been told

in die village that

had got

light shortly after the

little

woman had been

portion of

killed,
kill,

and

as

it

must have taken the leopard sonic

time to effect the

it,

carry his victim four hundred yards, and eat

to

it

was reasonable
kill

assume that he had

left

the spot where

he had hidden the

when day was

kill

fully established.

The

hill

on which the

was

lying

was

in full

view of the

village, in

which at

this

hour diere must had been considerable movement;

the

leopard therefore

on

leaving die

kill

would very
diis

naturally had kept to

cover as far as was possible,

and working on

assumption, and also

I

because the ground was too hard to

show pug-marks,
taken.

set

out to follow

him along the

line

assumed he had
a mile

When
followed

had covered half

and was out of view

I

ol the village
I

and was approaching the depression,

was

gratified to find that

had

on the

leopard's tracks foot by foot, for in the lee of a bush

I

where there was some loose earth,

several hours.

found where he had been King

this spot

for

His pug-marks when leaving

fifty

showed
cliff

that he

had entered the depression about

For half an hour
area of tree
I

yards below the

lain,

of rock.

lay

where die leopard had

in front

watching the small

Uiat the leopard

and scrub jungle

slight

of

me

in the

hope

would make some

After
I

movement and
for a

give

away
a

his position.

had been watching

few minutes

movement among

the

dead leaves attracted

my

attention,

and presendy two scimitar babblers

leaves, looking for grubs.

came into view industriously turning over the

Where carnivores

are concerned, these birds are

among

the

most

reliable

102

The Mon-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

informants

in

the jungle, and

hoped

later to

make

use of this pair to

help in locating the leopard.

No movement
that the leopard

had been

visible

and no sound had come to indicate he was there

I

was

in the depression; but that

was

still

convinced, and having failed to get a shot in one

way

decided to

try

another way.

Without coming out into the open, there were two natural
retreat for the leopard,

lines of

one down the

hill

towards the pilgrim road, and

hill

the other

up the

hill.

To move him down the

the
hill

would not

profit rne,
cleft in

but

if I

moved him up
cliff

he would for

a certainty

go up the
cliff,

the rock

to gain the shelter of the bushes above the

so, there

and while

he was doing

was a reasonable chance of

little

my

getting a shot.

Entering the depression a

was,
at
I

below where
it,

thought the leopard

started to zigzag very slowly across

gaining a few feet in height

each turn. There was as yet no need for

me

to

keep an eye on the

Touch and

Go

103
and they

deft, tor the babblers

were on the ground

few

feet

below
I

it,

WOllId let

me know when

die leopard was on die move.

in

had gained

about forty yards in height

across the depression
left

forward and backwards and was about ten yards from, and a little to the
the babblers rose in alarm and, flying into a small

my movements

of die

cleft,

when

oak tree and hopping about excitedly on the branches, started to give their clear and ringing alarm call, which can in the hills be heard for
distance of half a mile. Holding the ride ready to take a snap shot,
I

stood perfecdy

and then started slowly moving forward. The ground here was wet and slippery and, with my eyes fixed on
still

for a minute,

the cleft,

had only taken two

steps
I

when my

rubber-soled shoes slipped

on the wet surface; and while

the leopard sprang
of kakge pheasants,

was endeavouring to regain

my

balance,
a covey

up the

cleft,

and in the bushes above put up

sailing

which came

down

over
it

my

head.

My
easy for
it

second attempt had

failed,

and diough

would have been quite

me

to have

moved

the leopard back to where he had started from,

would have been of no use for

me

to

do

so, for,

from above, the

it,

cleft
I

in

the rock was not visible until one was right

up

to

and long before

gained the position the leopard

would have been

far

down

the depression.

Ibbotson and

had arranged to meet

in the

open

ravine at 2 p.m.,

and a litde before that hour he returned from Rudraprayag, accompanied

by several
ot iood,

men

carrying the things he had gone to fetch. These consisted

and drink

lamp

necessity arose

which on two

in the

way of teaour old

I

friend the petromax

myself,
if

this

occasion
rifles

decided

would carry

the

spare

and ammunition,

my

fishing-reel, a liberal

supply of cyanide, and the gin-trap.

Sitting in die ravine

by a clear stream of water, we had our lunch and

tea,

brewed ourselves cups of

I

and then went over

to the
kill,

kill.

will give a

description of the position of the

to enable

you

to follow

our movements and the subsequent happenings.

The

kill

was

lying about five teet

horn the near or ravine end ot the

Hat strip of
feet

ground, which was four

feet long.

wide and about twenty

this

The upper side of

strip

of

04

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayog

ground was protected by a high bank, and the lower side by a steep

drop and

spreading rose-bush.
to allow a machan

The

stunted medlar tree on die bank

was too small

being

made

in

it,

so

we decided

to

depend

entirely

on

a gun-trap, poison,

and the gin-trap; having come to

this decision
First

we

set

about our preparations.

the
kill,

we poisoned

of which the leopard had

time
onlv

for

want of

only eaten a small portion; hoping that on this occasion he would

sufficient to poison himself effectively.

consume
kill

Then, while

bent

over the

in the position

we

anticipated the leopard

his

would assume

when

eating, Ibbotson sighted

and securely lashed

.256 Mannlicher
rifle

which had a hair

fifteen yards

trigger

and my

.450 high-velocity
kill.

to

two

saplings,

on our approach

side of the

There were no insuperable obstacles to the leopard getting

kill

at the

from any
I

side he

might wish

to,

but his most natural

fifteen feet

line

of approach
flat

from where
and on
first

had

left

him was along the

or so of

ground,
gin-trap,

this strip of flat

ground we proceeded to bury the huge

leaf, bit

removing from the ground every dead

it.

of

stick,

and blade

of grass that were lying on

After

we had dug

a hole sufficiently long, wide,

and deep

the displaced earth to a distance

we

removing

put the gin-trap in

it,

and when

the powerful springs that closed the jaws had been depressed, and the
plate that constituted the trigger adjusted as delicately as
it,

we dared

set

we

covered the whole trap with a layer of green leaves, over which we

sprinkled earth, and blades of grass in the position

we had found

them.
set

So
it

carefully

had the trap been set in the ground that

difficult to

we who had

found

it

determine

its

exact position.
silk

My
line

fishing-reel

was now produced and one end of the dressed

of one
kill,

was

tied to the trigger

rifle,

looped round the butt-end, and

it

taken to within ten feet of the

from where
rifle,
it

was taken back, looped

round the butt-end of the second

was thru cut and

and
was

tied to the trigger.

a

The

line

much
tied.

to

my

regret, for

new and very good

line

after the

end had been

tied

round the woman's

to

waist, the line was

taut,

[Kissed

through the loop, the

The
line

lines

the

triggers pulled

and

secure knot was

was then cut for the second time.

As we

east

final

look over our handiwork

which appeared \en

Touch and Go

05

good

to us

it

struck us that

if

the leopard was to

wander round and

approach the
to
his

kill

from our

side,

and not from the

side

we

expected him

come, he miaht avoid both the guns and the

doing so

gin-trap,

and to prevent

we

sent to the village for a crowbar, while

little

we

cut

five

thornbushes from some

five

distance away.

With

the crowbar

we made

holes a foot deep,

on our

side of the flat strip of ground, and into

these holes

we

planted the bushes, stamping the earth round them and

as secure

making diem almost

they were growing

and quite

as natural to

look at as

when
no

on the

hillside.

We

were

now
kill

quite satisfied that

animal bigger than a rat could approach die

it

and

eat

any portion of

without meeting death in one form of another, so dirowing off the

safety-catches of the rifles,

Fifty yards

we returned

to the village.
arrival

from die

\illage,

and close to where we had on our

found the pool of blood, there was a big wide-spreading mango

this tree

tree. In

we made

a machan

from planks procured from

it

the village, and

on
to
if

it

we

piled a lot of sweet-smelling rice straw, for

it,

was our intention

spend the night on

in anticipation

of having to

finish off the leopard

he was caught in the gin-trap.

Near sundown we took our position on the machan, which was long
enough for us to
side.
lie

on

at length

and wide enough

to the
a
kill

for us to

lie

side by

The distance from the machan

kill

across the ravine was two

hundred yards, and the

about a hundred
feet.

was on

higher level than die machan by

Ibbotson feared that his aim with the telescopic sight

fitted to his rifle

would not be quite accurate, so while he took

glasses

a pair of

powerful

field-

from their

case,

loaded

my

.275

rifle.

Our

plan was that while

Ibbotson concentrated
the leopard to

on die portion of
I

the

hill

along which
all

we expected
over the
hill,

come,

would keep
I

a general look-out

and

if

we saw

the leopard,
at

would

the shot risk taking a shot, even if

had to be taken

the extreme range to which

my

rifle

was sighted,

which was three hundred fords.

While Ibbotson dozed,

the bills in the

'i

smoked and watched

hill

the shadows east by

west slowlv creep up the

in front ol us,

and uher
red,
rifle,

fa

crest ot the hill from the setting sun were gilding the picked up mv Ibbotson awoke and picked up his field-glasses, and 1
rays

The Mcm-Eoting Leopard of Rudraprayag

tor the time

had

now come when we

his

could expect
still

the leopard to

make

appearance. There was

some

forty live- minutes of daylight left,

ami during

the time
that

we

intently

scanned

with a pair of eyes

his

few are blessed with, and Ibbotson with

field-glasses

every foot of the considerable

hitl

expanse of

visible

from out maclwn,

a

without seeing die movement of

bird or animal.

When
by,
I

there was

no longer

sufficient light to shoot

put

down mv

rifle,

and

a litdc later [bboteon his field-glasses

returned

to dieir case.

One

change
left,

of

killing die

leopard had gone, but there were

still

three chances

so

we were
diat

not unduly depressed.

it

Shortly after dark

I

came on

to rain,

and
for

whispered

to Ibbotson

feared

it

would prove our undoing,

if

die additional weight ol

it off,

rain-water

on the

delicately set gin-trap did not set

the contracting
it

of die iishing-line due to getting wet, no matter

how

slight

might
later,
I

be,

would
while

to a certainty lire off his hair-trigger

it

rifle.

Some time
time
a
it

and
a

was

still

raining, Ibbotson asked

I

me what
him
it

was.

had

luminous wrist-watch, and

had

just told

was

uuarter to eight
of

when
die

a succession

of savage and angrv roars came from the direction

kill

the leopard, the much-famed man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag,

last in

was

at

long

the gin-trap.
1

Ibbotson took a living leap from the machan while

a branch,

swung down from

and

that neither

of us broke Limbs

in

the descent can only be

The petromax lamp hidden in a nearby vam field was found, and while Ibbotson proceeded to light it, gave expression 10 im fears and doubts, and admit deserved Ibbotson'fi rejoinder,
attributed to luck.
I
1

Tfou are a rotten pessimist lirst

to spring the trap

vou diink a few drops of rain are

rifle,
it

and

fire B

off

mv

and now you think because

ti&

leopard

is

not making

ROise that

has got OUt of the trap.' That WS

Touch and

Go

107

was thinking, and luring, for on that other occasion when we had trapped a leopard it had roared and growled continuously, whereas tins one, after that one expression of rage which had
1

F*

what

brought us tumbling

out of the muchan, had been ominously

silent.
in a

Ibbotson

is

an expert with
lit

all

makes of lamps and

very short

and pumped up, and throwing our doubts to the winds for even Ibbotson was by now beginning to suspect the silencewe set off over the rough ground as
hard as

time he had the petromax

we

could go,

circling

wide

to avoid die fishing-lines

loll

and

a possible

angry leopard, and

got to the high bank and looked the hole in the ground, but no gin-trap, just as our hopes were bounding up, die brilliant light of the petromax revealed the trap; with its jaws closed and empty, ten yards down the hillside.

approached the

from above.

When we

down we saw

The

kill

was

no longer lying with

a considerable

its

head against the bank, and

it

a glance revealed that

portion of

had been eaten.

Our thoughts were too bitter to give expression to as we went back mango tree and climbed into the machan. There was no longer any need for us to keep awake, so heaping some of the straw over ourselves, lor we had no bedding and the night was cold, we went to sleep.
to die

At the

first

streak of

dawn

a fire

was

built near the

mango

tree

and

water heated, and after

ourselves at the fire,

we had drunk
set off for the

several cups of tea

kill,

and warmed
pattvan

we

accompanied by the

and several of Ibbotson's and

my men,

together with a

number of men

from the
I

village.

mention the

fact that there

were two of
us, for

us,

and that we had the

I

potwah and a

number of men with

what
I

had

been alone
you.

would have

hesitated to relate

am now

going to

tell

Fiend or animal, had the slayer of the old

Watched our overnight preparations
to
'
it

woman

been present and

difficult

would even then haw been

understand

how

it

had, on

dark and rainy night, avoided capture

rain,

death in one form or another.

soften the ground,

The

diough

light,

had been

sufficient

to
s

and we were able to reconstruct and

the previous night.

to follow

every
1

movement of

he leopard had
'

come from

the direction from which

we

had exported

come, and on

arrival at die flat strip

of ground, had skirted round

108
and below

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraproyag

it,

and had dien approached the

kill

from the

side

where we

had firmly planted the thornbushes. Three of these bushes he had pulled
up, making a sufficiendy wide gap to go through, and then, getting hold

of the

kill,

he had drawn

it

a foot

or so towards die
this

rifles,

thus slackening
eat,

off the fishing-lines.

Having done

he had started to

avoiding

while doing so contact with the fishing-line that was tied round the

woman's

body.

We

had not thought

it

necessary to poison either the

head or the neck. These he had eaten he had eaten

poison
all

first,

and then

very carefully

that portion of the

body between the many doses of

we had

inserted in diiferent places.

left

After satisfying his hunger the leopard

the

kill

with the intention

I

of seeking shelter from the rain and, while he was doing so, what

feared

would happen
finely set trap

actually

happened. The weight of rainwater on the very

trigger,

had depressed the plate that constituted the

and

released the springs just as the leopard was stepping over the trap, and

the great jaws had

met on

either side ol the

stifle,
all,

or knee-joint, of

his

hind
trap

leg.

And

here was the greatest tragedy of

the

for

when

bringing the

up from Rudraprayag

men

carrying

it

had
off,

let it fall,

and one of
of the
this

the three-inch-long teeth had been broken

and the

stifle

leopard's left hind leg had been caught by the jaws exacdy

where

missing tooth formed a gap in the otherwise perfectly

fitting set

of teeth.

But for

this

missing tooth the leopard would have been fixed to the trap
free, for

without any possibility of getting

sufficiently

the grip on his leg had been

in

good

for

him
it,

to

lift

the eighty-pound trap out of the hole

it

which we had buried

and earn'

ten yards

down

the hillside.

And

now;
a

instead of the leopard, the jaws of the trap only held a tuft of hair
small piece of skin,

and

which we

later

much

later

had the great

satisfaction

of fitting back into position.

However unbelievable
nave been, they were in

the actions of the leopard

may appear

to

fact just

what one would have expected from

an animal that had been a man-eater for eight vears. Avoiding die open

ground, Am] approaching the

obstruction
pulling the

kill

under cover; removing the

trail

tiiorn

we had
kill

erected across the blood

a

he had

left that

morning;

towards him into

convenient position for

that

his meal,

and

rejecting those portions of the

kill

we had poisoned

cyanide, oi

Touch and

Go

109

which he

now had

experience, has a very strong smell

actions.
I

were

all

quite

normal and natural

The explanation
convinced, correct.
to

have given for the springing of the trap

is,

am

It

was

just a coincidence that the leopard

happened

be direcdy over the trap the very

it

moment

that the additional weight

of water set

off
until

Having dismantled the gin-trap, and waited

the relatives had

removed what remained of the old woman

walk back to Rudraprayag, leaving our
the night the leopard had

for cremation,

we

set out to

men

to follow us.

Some time

during
his

come

to the

mango

tree, for

we found

pug-marks near the tree where the pool of blood

by the rain

now washed away

had been, and we followed these pug-marks down the track

to the pilgrim road and four miles along the road to the gate of the

Inspection Bungalow where, after scratching up the ground at the base of

one of the

pillars

of the gate, he had gone on

old friend the
killed.

down

the road for another

mile to where
goats he
I

my
tell

packman was camped, one

of whose

had wantonly

need not

those of
a

_^g^0

you who have carried

sporting
rifle in

any part of
all

the

world that

these

many repeated

failures

and

disappointments, so far

from discouraging me,

only

strengthened

my

determination to carry on
until

that great day or

night

came when, having

discarded poisons and traps,

I

would
using

get

an opportunity
rifle

"1

mv

as rifles

were intended to be used,

t( J

put a bullet truly and

into
the

accurately

man-

eater's body.

LESSON

IN

CAUTION

HAVE NEVER AGREED WITH

The thoughts of
a sportsman,

those sportsmen

who

attribute

all

their failures in big-ganie hunting to their being Jonahs.

whether they be pessimistic or whether

they be optimistic, sitting waiting for an animal, cannot in any conceivable

way influence the actions of the animal he

maybe, to photograph.

is

endeavouring to shoot

or,

We

are apt to forget that the hearing

and

sight of wild animals, and

especially of those animals that

depend

exclusively

on these senses
no

not

only for food but also for self-preservation, are on a plane for and away

above that of

civilized

human

beings, and that there

is

justification tor

us to assume that because

we cannot hear

or see the

movements

of our
\

prospective quarry, our quarry cannot hear or see our movements.

wrong estimation of

the intelligence of animals, and the inability to

sit

without making any sound or movement for the required length of time,
is

the cause of

all

failures

when

sitting

up

for animals.
,v\u[
is

As an example
it

ot

the acute sense of hearing of carnivores,

the care
I

is

necessary to

exercise

when contact with one of them

desired,

will relate

one

<>'

my

recent experiences.

On

a .lav in

ground March, when the carpet of dry leaves on the

Lesson in Caution

111

aded the
of

tailing

of every dead leaf and the movements of the smallest

I

the birds that feed on the ground,

tiger
I

located in

some very heavy

undergrowth die exact position of a by moving

tiger to
a

had long wished to photograph,

I

troop of langurs in the direction in which

suspected the

be lying up. Seventy yards from the

tiger there

was an open

glade, fifty yards long

and

thirty yards wide.

On

the edge of the glade,

away from the

tiger,

there was a big tree overgrown with creepers that

extended right up to the topmost branches; twenty feet from the ground
the tree forked in two.
late
kill
I

knew

diat the tiger

would cross the glade

in the

afternoon, for the glade lay directly between him and his sambhar

which

had found

early that
lie

morning. There was no suitable cover

in

near the

kill

for the tiger to

up

during the day, so he had gone to

the heavy
It is

undergrowth where the

langurs

had located him

for

me.

often necessary,

when

shooting or photographing tigers and

it

leopards

on

foot, to

know
that

the exact position of one's quarry, whether

be

wounded animal

one desires to put out of

its

misery or an
this
is

animal that one wants to photograph, and the best way of doing

by enlisting the help of birds or animals. With patience, and with

knowledge of the habit of the bird or animal the sportsman desires

use,
it

to

is

not difficult to get a particular bird or animal to go in the

required direction.
fowl, peafowl,

The

birds

most

suitable for this

purpose are red junglesuitable

and white-capped babblers, and of animals the most

langurs.

are kakars

and
I

The
but

tiger

am
I

telling

you about was unwounded and

it

would have

been quite easy for

in

me

to go into the undergrowth and find

him

myself,

doing so

should have disturbed him and defeated

my own

knowing what their purposes, whereas by using the troop oflangurs and happened to be in the reactions would be on sighting the tiger if he

undergrowth
disturbing the

was able to" get die information

have referred

wanted without

tiger.
I

Very carelulhA stalked the tree

to,

and avoiding contact

which might have With the creepers, the upper tendrils and leaves of
been
1

visible

from where the

tiger

was King,

climbed to the

fork,

wher

Getting out my had a comfortable seal and perfect concealment. in front oj cine-camera made an opening in the screen of fcaves
I

16-mm

me

,u.st

112
big

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

enough

to

photograph through, and having accomplished

a

all

this

without having made

to the glade

sound,

sat

still.

My

field

of vision was confined

it.

and to the jungle immediately beyond

sitting lor

After

had been

an hour, a pair of bronzewing doves

rose out of the jungle and went skimming over the low brushwood, and
a

minute or two

later,

and a

little

closer to

me, a small

flight

of upland

pipits rose off the

ground and,

after daintily tripping along the branches

off.

of a leafless tree, rose above the tree-tops and went

Neither of these
their behaviour

two species of birds has any alarm

that the tiger
later
I

call,

but

knew from

was afoot and that they had been disturbed by him. Minutes

was slowly turning

my

eyes from
eyes

left to right

scanning every foot

of ground visible to me,

when my

came

to rest

on

a small

white

object, possibly an inch or

two square, immediately

in front

of me, and

about ten feet from the edge of the glade. Focusing

stationary object for a
little

my

eyes

on

this

while,

then continued to scan the bushes to

right,

die limit of

my

field

of vision to die

and then back again

to the

white object.
I

was now convinced

a

that this object

I

had not been where

first

it

was
and

for

more than
it

minute or two before

had

caught sight of

it,

that

could not be anything other than a white mark on the tiger's face.

Quite evidendy the tiger had heard

the tree, though
far as
I

me when

was approaching or climbing

as

had done

this in thin

rubber shoes without makings

for

was aware any sound, and when the time had come
he had stalked, for
a distance

him

to go

to his

kill

of seventy yards over dry

leaves,

the spot he had pin-pointed as the source of

some

suspicious sound.

After lying for half an hour without making any

movement, he stood
tear,

up, stretched himself, yawned, and, satisfied that he had nothing to

walked out into the glade. Here he stood, turning

right

his

head

first to

the

and dien to the

left,

and then crossed the glade, passing

kill.

right

under

mv

tree

on
in

his

way

to his

When

my wanderings through

the jungles

see the machans that

have been put up for the purpose of shooting carnivores, and note the saplings that have been felled near by to make the platform, the branches
that have

been cut

to give a clear view,

and

.see

the litter and debris

Kit lying about, and consider the talking and noise that must have

Lesson

in

Caution

113

accompanied these operations,

sav thev

am

not surprised when

hear people

have

sat

up hundreds

of times tor tigers

and leopards without

ever having seen

one

of these animals,

and

attribute their failures to their

beinp Jonahs.

Our

failure to

bag the man-eater up to that date was not due to our

having done anything

we
It

should not have done, or

left

undone anything

we should have done.

given Ibbotson

could only be attributed to sheer bad luck. Bad

luck that had prevented

my
in

receiving the electric light in time; that had

legs; that

cramps

both

had made die leopard eat an

overdose of cyanide; and,

trap

finally,

that had

made

the

men drop

the gin-

and break die one tooth that mattered. So when Ibbotson returned

to Pauri, after

our
I

failure to
full

kill

the leopard over the body of his seventyI

year-old victim,

was

of hope, for

considered
first

my

chance of shooting

die leopard as

good

as they

were on the

day
I

arrived at Rudraprayag,

and in fact better than they had then been, for

of the animal
I

now knew

die capabilities

bad to deal with.

One

thing was causing

me

a lot of uneasiness

and much heart-searching,

river.

and that was confining the man-eater to one bank of the

I

However
left

looked

at

it,

it

did not appear to be right that the people on the

leopard, bank of the Alaknanda should be exposed to attacks by the the risk of such while the people on the right bank were free from
attacks. Including the

boy

killed

two days before our

arrival,

three people had recently lost and dieir lives on die lett bank,
others might meet with a
fate,
like

and yet to open the two

ifdgej

and

let

the leopard cross

would add over to the right bank

an

hundredfold

to

my

difficulties,

which were already

not considerable, and would

whole, tor benefit Garhwal as J the people on the
the lives of
right

bank of the

river

were

just

114

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

as valuable as the lives ol the

1

people on the

left

bank; so, very reluctantly

1

decided to keep the bridges closed.

And

here

should like to pav

tribute to the

peoplenumbering manv thousands

my
left

living

on the

bank

of the river

who, knowing that the closing of die bridges was

confining the activities of die dread man-eater to their area, never once,

during the months

or asked

closed the bridges, removed the barriers themselves,

so.
I

me

to

do

Having decided to keep the bridges closed,

sent a

man

to

warn

the villagers of their danger, and myselt carried the warning to as

villages as

manv
one

time and

mv
at

abilitv to

walk permitted ol

my

doing.

No

whom

talked with

on die roads and

in the villages ever

expressed one

word of resentment
and everywhere
1

the leopard having been conlined to their area,

I

went
1

was offered
greatlv

hospitality-

and speeded on

mv way

with blessings, and

was

encouraged bv the assurances from

both

men and women

man-eater's next victim

who

did not
it

know

but what thev might be the

that

was no matter for regret that the leopard

it

had not died

yesterday, for surely

would

die today or, mavbe, tomorrow.

WILD BOAR HUNT

THE OLD PACKMAN HAD ARRIVED

the previous evening.

at the

thorn enclosure

late
at

He was

packing

salt

and gur from the bazaar

as his flock
a

Hardwar
goats

to the villages

beyond Badrinath, and

last

of sheep and

was heavily laden and the

march had been

long one, he had

arrived too late at the thorn enclosure to repair the

weak
of"

places in

it,

with the result that several of the goats had strayed out

the enclosure

and one of them the leopard had

early

killed, close to the road,

his

during the

hours of the morning. The barking of

it

dogs had awakened him,

and

when

got light, he saw his best

goat a

beautiful steel-grey animal

nearly as large as a Shetland

killed

ponylying

dead near the road, wantonly

by the man-eater.
night showed the man-eater during the previous
a

The behaviour of
the extent to
a

which the habits of

leopard change

when

it

has

become

Man-eater and has

lived in close association with

human

beings over a

long period of years.

It

was reasonable to assume

that the

man-eater had received

a great

his slunk, and a great fright, by being caught in the gin-trap;

having earned

the heavy trap lor ten yards

and the angry way

in

which he bad roared

were

in

lad proof of

this;

him. the moment. and one would have expected

116

The Man-Eoting Leopard of Rudraprayag

he got out of die

trap, to have retried to

some secluded spot

to have

as far

removed
until

from human habitation

as possible,

and

remained there

he
far

was again hungry, which he would not be for several days. But, so

from doing
kill,

this,

he had quite evidently remained

in the vicinity

of the

and

after

watching us climb into the machan and giving us time to

investigate; fortunately for us,

go to sleep, had come to

Ibbotson had
all

taken the precaution to protect die machan by putting wire-netting

round
kill

it,

for

it

is

not an unheard-of thing for man-eating leopards to

people
is

who

are sitting

up

trying to shoot them. At the present time

in

there

man-eating leopard

the Central Provinces that has

at

different

timeskilled and eaten lour Indian sportsmen who were trying

to shoot him;
forty'

up

to the time

last

heard ot

this

animal he had killed

human

beings,

and owing

to his habit of eating his

life,

would-be

slayers,

he was

living a very peaceful

and undisturbed

varying his

human

diet

with game and domestic animals.

After his
visit to

die

mango

tree,

our man-eater went along the

village

padi to

its

junction with the track. Here, where

we had found

the pool

of blood, he had turned to the right and gone

mile,

down

die track for a

into

and then along the pilgrim road for another four miles and
in

the

most densely populated part of the area

arrival at

which he was operating.

On

Rudraprayag, he had gone through the main street of the

a mile farther

bazaar,

and half

on had scratched up die ground

rain of the previous night
soft clay the
it

at the gate

of the Inspection Bungalow:

the clay surface of die road,

The

had softened
ot the

and on the

pug-marks

leopard showed up

clearly,

and from them

was possible

to see that the

leopard's encounter with the gin-trap had not resulted in injury to any

of his limbs.
Alter breakfast
ihe
1

took up the tracks

at

the gate and followed

diem

to

packman's tamp. From a bend

in die road, a

hundred yards from

die

camp, the leopard had caught

sioht of the goats that

had strayed Irom

the enclosure, and crossing from the outer to the inner edge oJ 'the road

and creeping along under shelter of the

hill

he had stalked die grazing

animals and, alter killing the steel-grey goat but without even troubling
to think
In the
its

blood, had returned to the road.

thorn enclosure, guarding the dead goat and the noatlv stacked

A Wild Boar Hunt

117

pile oi' packs,

were the packman's two sheep-dogs, tethered

to stout pegs

with short lengths of heavy chain. These big, black, and powerful dogs
that are

used by packmen throughout our

hills

are not accredited sheep-

dogs
are.

in the

same sense

that sheep-dogs in Great Britain and in

Europe

On

the

march the dogs keep

efficiently

ihev

perform very

close to heel, and their duties

which
to

-start

when camp

is

made. At night they

guard the
kill

camp

against wild animals

leopard

and

have

known two of them

intruders.

during the day and while die packmen are away

grazing the flock they guard the

camp

against

all

case

is

on

record of one of these dogs having killed a

man who was

attempting to

remove
I

pack from the camp

it

had been leh to guard.

picked up the tracks of the leopard where he returned to the road

after killing the goat,

and followed them dirough Golabrai and

ravine crosses the road,

for a mile

farther on, to

where a deep

up which he had

gone.
ravine

The

distance the leopard had covered from the

mango

tree to the

was about eight miles. This long and seemingly aimless walk away from a kill was in itself a thing no ordinary leopard would under
any circumstances have undertaken, nor would an ordinary leopard have
killed a

goat

when he was not

hungry.

A
a

quarter of a mile beyond die ravine the old packman was sitting on

rock by the side of the road, spinning wool and watching his Hock, which were grazing on the open hillside. When he had dropped his
spinning-stick

and wool

into the capacious pocket in his blanket robe

if
I I

and accepted a cigarette, he asked

I

had come past

his

camp.

When
had

told

him

had done so and that

it

had seen what the

to
sell

evil spirit

done, and added that

his

would be wise
it

his

dogs to camelmen on
that they

next

visit

to Hardwar, for

was quite evident

were lacking

in

agree-with what he heard. courage, he nodded his head as one in

said, 'Sahib,

Then he

even we old hands are apt

as
1

at

times to

make

mistakes,

and suffer for them, even

goat.

have

this night suffered

by losing

my
fit

best
all

My

dogs have the courage of and

it is

tigers,

and are the best dogs

say they are onlv
is

in
to

Garfiwal,
sold to

an

insult to

them
as
if

for

you to

be

camelmen.
and
I

My camp
Feared that

you doubtless observed,

very close

to the road,

by night,

my

dogs might do him an

along the road by chance anyone came up outside injury. so I chained them

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraproyag

the thorn enclosure instead of leaving

them

loose, as

is

mv

wont. You

have seen the result; but do not blame the dogs, sahib, for
'to save

in their efforts

my

goat their collars have bitten deep into their necks, and

made

wounds
on the
it

that will take

many

days to heal.'

While we were

talking, an

animal appeared on the crest of the

its

hill

far side ot the

Ganges. From
but

colour and

size,

at first

thought
towards

was

Himalayan
I

bear,

when

it

started to

come down

the

hill

the

river,

saw

it

was

a big wild boar.

in

The

pig was followed by a pack of

village
all

pye dogs,

who man

turn were followed by a rabble of boys and men,

all

armed with
As
this

sticks of varying size. Last of

came

man

carrying

a gun.

crested the
little later

hill

he raised his piece and

we

saw

puff of smoke, and a

heard the dull report of a muzzle-loading

gun.

The onlv
as

living things within

range of the gun were the boys and

race, the

men, but

none of them dropped out of the

sportsman appeared

to have missed them.

The

pig had a long grassy slope before

him, with an odd bush dotted here and

there,

and below the

grass slope

was some
a
1

broken ground, and below that again

dense belt of brushwood which extendi)
riuht
!*<_

down

to the river.

On

the rough broken ground the

pig lost his lead, and pig and pye dogs

disappeared into the brushwood

''
'..

"Together. Next minute

all

the dogs,

with the exception of the big light-coloured animal that had been leading
the pack, dashed back out of the brushwood.

When

the boys and

men

arrived they appeared to urge the clogs to re-enter the cover, but this
after apparently having

recendy seen what die pig could do with his tusks

Uiey were unwilling to do.

The man with

the gun then arrived, and was

immediately surrounded by the boya and men.

on our elevated grandstand with the rher flowing between, the scene being enacted on the farther hill was a silent picture,

To us

.sitting

for the noise of the water

deadened sound and

al

we had heard was

the dull report of the muzzle-loader.

Wild Boar Hunt

119

The sportsman was

apparently as reluctant to enter the cover as the

sat

dogs were, tor presently he broke away from his companions and

down on

a rock, as if to say,
diis

'I

have done

my

bit,

now you

do yours'.

Confronted with

double dilemma

for die dogs, even after

some of
the boys

them had been beaten,

and then the

stoutly refused to face the pig-

first

men

started to

dirow stones

into the

brushwood.

While

this

was going on, we saw the pig emerge from the lower
a

end of the brushwood on to

narrow

strip

of sand. With a few quick

still

steps he came out into the open, stood perfecdy

for a

tew seconds,
run plunged

took a few more steps, stopped again, and then with

into the river. Pigs

a little

-the

wild variety

are exceptionally

good swimmers,
as

and they do not cut their throats with their hooves while swimming,
is

generally believed.

The current

in the river

was

strong, but there

I

is

no bigger-hearted

animal than our wild pig, and

when

last

saw the old boar he had been

but was swimming strongly
safely.

washed down the

river a quarter of a mile,

I

and was nearing our bank, which

have no doubt he reached

rifle,

'Was the pig within range of your

'Ye replied, 'the

sahib?' asked the packman.

I

pig was within range, but

have not brought a

lives,

rifle

to

Garhwal

to'

shoot pigs that are running for their

is

but to shoot
1

what you think

'Have
it

an

evil spirit,

and what

know

is

a leopard.

your

own way' he

rejoined; 'and now, as

you are going, and

we may never meet again, take my prove whether you or I am right.' regret I never saw the packman
I

blessings with you, and time will

again, for

he was

grand old man,

as

proud

as Lucifer,

and

as

happy

as the

day was long, when leopards

his

were not

killing his best goats

and when die courage of

dogs was not

being questioned.

VIGIL

ON

A PINE TREE

IBBOTSON RETURNED TO PAURI NEXT

morning, when
Rudraprayag,
of a village in
I

DAY, and
hill

the following

was

visiting the villages

on the

to the east of

found the tracks of the man-eater on

path leading out

which the previous night he had

in

tried to

break open the

a

door of

house

which there was

a child suffering

from

bad cough.

On

following the tracks for a couple of miles they led

me

to the shoulder
I

of the mountain where, some days previously Ibbotson and

had

sat

up over the
It

calling goat

which the leopard had

later killed.

was

still

quite early, and as there was a chance of finding the leopard

I

basking on one of the rocks in this considerable area of broken ground,

lay

on

a projecting

rock that

commanded an

extensive view

It

had rained and washed

die previous evening

thus enabling

me

to track the leopard

its

the haze out of the atmosphere. Visibility was at

best and the view

in

from the projecting rock was

world where mountains

as

good

as

could be seen

anv part ot the

feet.

rise to a height

of twenty-three thousand

Immediately below

me was

the beautiful valley of the Alaknanda, with

it.

the river showing as a gleaming silver ribbon winding in and out ol

On

the

hill

beyond the

river,

villages

were dotted about, some with

only a single thatched hut, and others with long rows ol slate-roofed

Vigil

on a Pine Tree

121

houses. These

row

buildings are in fact individual homesteads, built one

against the other to

are

to economize space, poor and every foot of workable land in Garhwai

saw expense and

for the
is

peopLe
for

needed

apiculture.

Beyond the
in

hills

were rugged rocks

cliffs,

down which

avalanches roar
cliffs

winter and early spring, and beyond and above the

were the
if

eternal snows, showing

up

against the intense blue sky as clear as

cut

out of white cardboard.

No more
the sun,

beautiful or peaceful scene could be

imagined, and yet

set

when
of die

now

shining

on the back of my head,

on the

far side

snow mountains,

terror

possible to imagine until experienced

eight long years, the area
I
I

would

terror which
it

it is

not

grip, as

had done for

was now overlooking.

for an

had been
on

lying

on the rock

hour when two men came down

a village

the

hill,

dieir

way

to the bazaar.
1

They were from

about

a mile

farther

up the

hill

that

had

visited the previous

a

day and diey informed

leopard calling in this

me

that a

little

before sunrise they had heard

direction.

We

discussed the possibilities of

I

my

getting a shot at the leopard

over a goat, and as at that time

to bring

had no goats of and promised

my
to

own, they offered

me

one from their

village

meet me where we

were standing, two hours before sunset.

When
sit.

the

men had gone

looked round for

diis part of the

a place

where

could

The only
It

tree

on the whole of

mountain was

a solitary

pine.

was growing on the ridge close to die path down which the men
it

had come, and from under

face

second path took off and ran across the

of the mountain skirting the upper edge of the broken ground,

I

where

had recently been looking for the leopard. The

it

tree

commanded

an extensive view, but

little

could be

difficult to climb,

and would afford

I

cover.

However,
1

as

it

was the only tree

in the area,

had no choice,

so

decided

would

try

it.

The men were waiting

for

me

with

goat

when

returned
intended

at

about
I

4 p.m., and when, in reply to their question where

sitting,

pointed tn the pine, they started laughing. Without a rope ladder, they succeeded said, it would not be possible to climb the tree; and further, if intention of in climbing the tree without a ladder, and carried out my manshould have no protection against the
1

remaining out

all

night,

122
cater, to

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

whom
boys,

the tree

would

offer

no obstacle. There were two white

men
eggs

in

Garhwal

Ibbotson was one of them

who
my

had collected birds'

is

when

and both of
in
,

whom

could climb the tree; and as there

no exact equivalent
before crossing
it

Hindustani for 'waiting until you

let

come

to a bridge

the second part of the men's objection go

rifle.

unanswered, contenting myself by pointing to

The pine was not

feet,

easy to climb, for there were

no branches

for twentyeasy.
I

but once having reached the lowest branch, the rest was
a

had provided myself with

long length of cotton cord, and

it,
I

when

the

men had

tied

my

rifle

to

one end of

drew

it

up and climbed

to the

top of the tree, where the pine-needles afforded most cover.

The men had assured me

thev tied
it

that the goat

was

good

caller,

and

after

to an

exposed root of the tree they

set off for their village

promising

to return early next

morning. The goat watched the

men

out

of sight, and then started to nibble die short grass at the foot of the tree.

The
1

fact tiiat

it

had not up to then called once did not worry me,

tor
its

felt

sure that

it

would presendy

feel

lonely

and that
if it

it

would
while
kill

tiien
it

do

share of the business of the evening,

night,

and

did

it

was

still

from.mv

elevated position

should be able to
it

the leopard

long before
goat.

got anywhere near the

When
shadows

climbed the tree the

cast by the

snow mountains

had reached the Alaknanda. Slowly

these shadows crept up the
hill

^n<i

passed me, until only the top ot the

mountain glowed with red

light As this
light

glow faded, long streamers of

shot up

from die snow mountains where the

ravs of the setting sun

were

caught and held on

hank

of clouds
as

as soft

and

as light

thistledown.

Everyone
to

who
sunset

has eves

as

and the number,

Vigil

on a Pine Tree

123

you might have observed,

his particular part
I

is

regrettably

few thinks
I

that die sunsets in

of the world are the best ever.

all

am no

exception, for

too think that there are no sunsets in

the world to

compare with

ours,

and

good second

are the sunsets in northern Tanganyika, where

atmosphere makes snow-capped Kilimanjaro, and the clouds that are invariably above it, glow like molten gold in the rays of
quality in the

some

the setting sun.

gold.

Our

sunsets in the Himalayas are mostly red, pink, or

at the

The one

was looking

evening from

my

seat

on the pine

tree

was rose pink, and the white

shafts of light, starting as spear-

points from valleys in the cardboard snows, shot through the pink clouds

and, broadening, faded out in the sky overhead.

The

goat, like

many human

beings,

had no

interest in sunsets,

and

after nibbling the grass within reach, scratched a shallow hole for
lay

itself,
I

down, curled up, and went

to sleep.

Here was
below

dilemma.
to call
its

had

counted on die animal

leopard,

now
I

placidly sleeping

me

up the
mouth,

and not once since

had

first

seen

it

had

it

opened

except to nibble grass, and now; having

made

itself

comfortable,

it

would

probably sleep throughout the night. To have

in

left

the tree at that hour

an attempt to return to the bungalow would have added one more

to die

number who
kill

deliberately

commit

suicide,

and

as

had to be doing
kill

something to
place
call

the man-eater, and as

as another,
I

in the

absence ot a
I

one
all

was

as

good

decided to stay where

was, and try to

up the leopard myself

If
I

were asked what had contributed most

I

to
I

my

pleasure during

the years that

that
I

have spent

in

Indian jungles,
a

would unhesitatingly

say
anil

had derived most pleasure from

knowledge of the language,

the habits, of the jungle-folk.

There

is

no

universal language in the jungles;

each species has

its

own

language, and though the vocabulary ot

some

is

limited, as in the case of porcupines

and vultures, the language

of each

Species

is

understood by

all

the jungle-iulk.

The

vocal chords of

human

beings are
lolk,

more adaptable than

the vocal chords o( any ol the jungle-

and for with the <nr exception of the crested wire-tailed drongo, commune with pte this reason it possible lor human beings to hold the language d a big range of birds and animals. The ability to speak one's pleasure in die the apart from adding hundredfold to
tfi

jungle-fulk,

24

The Man- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

jungle, can,

if

so desired, be put to great use.

One example
at

will suffice.
I

Lionel Fortescue

up
and

till

recendy a housemaster

Eton

and

were

on

a photographing

fishing tour in the

at a Forest

Himalayas shortly after 1918,

at the foot

and we arrived one evening

mountain, on the
far side

Bungalow

of a great

of which was our objective, the Vale ol Kashmir.

for

We
men

had been marching over hard ground

carrying our luggage needed a
rest,

many

days,

and

as the

we decided

to halt for a day at

I

the bungalow.

Next

day, while

Fortescue wrote up his notes,

stag.
I

set out to

explore the mountain and try for a Kashmir

had been informed

by friends

who had

shot in Kashmir

tiiat it

was not possible to shoot one

shikari,

of these stags without the help of an experienced

and

this

was

confirmed by the chowkidar in charge of the Forest Bungalow. With the whole day before me I set out alone, after breakfast,- without having the
least idea at

what elevation the red deer

likely to
is

lived,

or the kind ol ground on

which thev were

a pass into Kashmir,

be found. The mountain, over which there is about twelve thousand feet high, and after I had

climbed to

a height

of eight thousand a storm came on.

I

From

the colour of the clouds

knew

was

in for a hailstorm, so
I

selected with care a tree under which to shelter.

have seen both

human

beings and animals killed by

hail,

and by

the lightning the invariably

fir

accompanies hailstorms, so rejecting the big

I

trees with tapering tops

foliage,

selected a small tree with a

rounded top and dense

fir-cones,
I

and

collecting
that

a supply of dead

wood and
and warm.

built a fire,

and for the hour

1

the thunder roared overhead and the hail lashed down,

sat at the foot

of

my

tree safe

The moment
of the tree
1

the hail stopped the sun

came

out,

and from the

shelter

stepped into fairyland, for the

hail that

carpeted the ground

and blade gave off a million points of light to which every glistening leaf thousand of grass added its quota. Continuing up for another two or three
feet,
1

came on an outcrop of
The

rock, at the foot of

which was

bed

ol

blue mountain poppies.

stalks of

many

of these, the most beautiful

of

sky-blue wild (lowers in the Himalayas, were broken, even so these -forgotten Bowera standing in a bed of spodess white were a never- to -be
all

sight.

The

appeared to be no rocks were too slippery to climb, and there

Vigil

on a Pino Tree

125
went

object in going to the top of the

to the
left,

hill,

so keeping to the contours

fir

and

after half a mile through a forest of giant

trees

came

to a grassy slope which, starting

from the top of the

I

hill,

extended several
the trees towards
a
little
I

thousand

feet

down
I

into the forest. As

far side

came through
it

this grassy slope

saw on the

of

an animal standing on
seen
it

knoll,

with

its tail

towards me. From

illustrations

in

game books
its

knew
saw
it

the animal was a red Kashmir deer, and

when

raised

head,

was

a hind.
side of the grassy slope,

On my
between

and about

thirty yards

from the edge

of the forest, there was a big isolated rock some four

this

feet high; the distance

rock and the knoll was about forty yards. Moving only
still

when

the deer was cropping the grass, and remaining

I

each time

she raised her head,

crept up to the shelter of the rock.

The hind was

to her right

quite obviously a sentinel,

and from the way she looked

I

each time she raised her head,

knew

she had companions, and the

exact direction in which these companions were. To approach any nearer

over the grass without being seen was not possible. To re-enter the forest

and work
defeated

down from above would

not have been

difficult

but would have

the
hill.

my

purpose, for the wind was blowing

forest

down
and

There

remained the alternative of re-entering the

lower end of the grass slope, but
climb.
I

skirting

round the
stiff

this

would

take time and entail a

I

therefore finally decided to remain where

I

was and see

ii

these

deer

which
as cheetal

was seeing

for the first time

call

would
I
I

react in the
I

same

way

and sambhar do to the

of a leopard, of which
for

knew

there

was

at least

one on the mountain,

had seen
waited

its

scratch-marLs

earlier in

the day

With

only one eye showing,

call

until the

hind was

cropping the grass, and then gave the

At the
first

of a leopard.

sound of

my

voice the hind

swung round and,

was
a

facing

me,

started to strike the

ground with her

alert,

forefeet. This

warning to her
I

companions to be on the
to see

but diose companions

whom

wanted

would not move

until the
I

hind called, and

a

this

she would not do

coat,
I

until she

saw the leopard.

was wearing
left

brown tweed

and
,t

projecting a few inches of

mv

shoulder beyond the rock

moved

up and down.

The movement was immediately

detected by the

hmd

Who, taking a few quick steps forward, started

to calk the

danger she had

126

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

warned her companions of was

in sight,

and
to

it

was

now

safe for

them

to join her.

The

first

come

was

a yearling, which, stepping daintily over

the hail-covered ground, ranged itself

along side the hind; the yearling

-

<M

was followed by three

stags,

y^U^'-SW'

who

in turn

were followed
entire
all,

^\

by an old hind. The

herd,

numbering
in full

six in

v*"

were now

view

at a

vT^^S^
aj*,

~-3

:r'~

range of thirty- five yards. The

"^

VW

hind was

still

calling,

while the

others, with ears alternately held rigid

or feeling forward and backward for sound and

wind

direction,

were standing perfectly

seat

still

and gazing into the

forest

behind me.

My

on the melting
would

hail

was uncomfortable and

I

wet,

and to remain

inactive longer

possibly result in a cold.

I

had seen

a representative

herd of the much-famed Kashmir deer, and

I

had heard

hind

call,

but there was one thing more that

call;

wanted. That was, to

hear a stag

so

again projected a few inches of

my

shoulder beyond

the rock, and had the satisfaction of hearing the stags, the hinds, and
the yearling calling in different pitched keys.

My

pass permitted

me

to shoot

one

stag,

and for

all I
I

knew one
set

ot

die stags might have carried a record head, but though

had
I

out that
realized

morning
that
I

to look for a stag,

in

and procure meat

a

for die

camp,

now

was

no urgent need of

trophy In any case the

of using the
rifle,
I

stag's

meat

would probably be tough

six

so, instead

stood up, and

a

of the most surprised deer in Kashmir vanished out oi sight, and

later
I

moment
far side
It
1

heard them crashing through the undergrowth on the

of the knoll.
for

was now time

me

to retrace

my

steps to the bungalow; and

lighter iorest
itself to

decided to go

down

the grassv slope and

work through die

at

at the foot

of the mountain. The slope was

an angle diat lent

an easy Lope, provided care was taken to see that every step was correcth placed. I was running in the middle of the hundred-vard open ground

Vigil

on a Pine Tree

27

and had gone about

object, standing

six

hundred yards when

caught sight of

white
side

on

a rock at the edge of the forest

on the left-hand

of the slope, and about three hundred yards below me.

hurried glance

convinced
lost in

me

that the white object

was

a goat, that

had probably been

I

the forest.

We

had been without meat

I

for a fortnight and"

had

promised Fortescue that

there was
suspicion
so as
I

would bring something back with me, and

my

opportunity.
possibly let
I

The

goat had seen me, and

if I

could disarm
it

would

me

pass close enough to catch

left,

by the

legs;

loped along

edged to the

keeping the animal

in sight

out of

the corner of

my

eyes. Provided the animal stayed

where

it

was, no better
it,

place on

all

the mountain could have been found on which to catch

for the flat rock, at the very

edge of which
five feet high.
I

it

was standing, jutted out

at

into the slope,

it,

and was about

Without looking direcdy

I

and keeping up a steady pace,

a sweep with

ran past the rock and, as

its

did so,

made

my

left

hand

for

forelegs.

With
I

a sneeze of alarm

the animal reared up, avoiding

my
saw

grasp,

and when

pulled up clear of
that the animal
I

the rock and turned round,

to

my amazement

had mistaken for

ten feet

white goat was an albino musk-deer. With only some

little

between us the game

animal was standing

I

its

ground and
hill

sneezing defiance at me. Turning away

yards,

walked down the

still

for fifty

and when

looked back, the deer was

standing on the

rock,

possibly congratulating itself

on having

frightened

me

away.

When some

weeks

later

related the occurrence to the

at

Game Warden
but as

of Kashmir he

expressed great regret

to

my

not having shot the deer, and was very anxious

I

know

the exact locality in which

had seen
is

it,

my memory
I

tor

places,

and

my

description of localities,

regrettably faulty;

do not diink

that particular albino

musk-deer

is

gracing any

museum.

Male leopards are very resentful of intrusion of others of their kind in the
area they consider to

be their own. True, the man-eater's

territory

extended

over an area of five

hundred square miles

still,

in

which there were possibly

in this particular area tor

many other male

several

leopards;

he had been

his own. 'And again, weeks, and might very reasonably consider it mfetake my the mating season was only just over, and die leopard might until it was quite call for the call of a female in search of a mate, so waiting

28

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

dark

called and, to

my

surprise

and

delight,

was immediately answered

a
little

by

a leopard

some four hundred yards below and

to the right.

The ground between

us was strewn with great rocks and overgrown

I

with matted thornbushes, and

straight line

knew

die leopard

would not come

skirt

in a

towards me, and that he wouid probably

round the
tree

broken ground and come

on; this
later
I
I

up a subsidiary ridge to the one

called, that

my

was

found,

when next he
call as

he was doing. Five minutes

that, starting

located his

coming from the path

hill,

from

my

tree, ran across the face

call I

of the

about two hundred yards away. This

it

answered, to give the leopard direction. Three, or

may have been

four,
It

minutes

later,

he called again from a distance of a hundred yards.

was

a dark night

and

had an

electric torch lashed to the side of

my

rifle,

and

my thumb on

the push button.

fifty

From

the root of the tree

a sharp

the path ran in a straight line for

yards, to

where there was

bend

in

it.

It

would not be possible

die torch

for

me

to

know when
I

or where to

direct the

beam of

on

this part

of the pauh, so

should have

to wait until the leopard

was on the

goat.

Just
called,

beyond the bend, and only

sixty yards away, the leopard again

far

and was answered by another leopard

it

up the mountain-side.

complication as unexpected as

was unfortunate, for

as

was too close

distance of

now

for

me

to call,

and

he had

last

my leopard heard me from a

that the coy
calling to

two hundred yards he would

naturally
hill

assume

female had removed herself farther up the

join her there.

and was

him

to

There was, however,

its

just a possibility ot his continuing

along the path to

junction with the path

kill

coming down the

if

hill,

in

which case he would be sure to

it.

the goat, even

he had no use for

But the goat's luck was

in,

and mine out,

for the leopard cut across

the angle formed by the two paths, and die next time he called he was
a

hundred yards farther from me, and

hundred vards nearer

his

prospective coaxing mate.

The
finally

calling of the

two leopards drew nearer

and nearer together, and

stopped. After a long period ot silence

to

the caterwauling of these

two giant cats came floating down

me
one,

from where

judged the grassland ended and the dense forest began.

The
not
least

feopard's luck

was unfortunately
it

in,

in

more ways than

of

all

because

was dark, for leopards when courting are very

Vigil

on a Pine Tree

129

to shoot. es

Ihc sam* can be said of

tigers,

but the sportsman

who

on toot to look
to see

wants

them,

for courting tigers should be quite sure that he for a tigress never a tiger is very sensitive at

these times, and quite understandably so, for males of the cat tribe are rough in their courting, and do not know how sharp their claws are.

The leopard had not

out;

died,

nor would he

die that night, but

may be

he would die the next day, or the day

after, for his

sands were running

and so for
a

long
blast

moment

thought were mine, for without any

tree,

warning

sudden

of wind struck the

and

my

heels and

my

head changed their

1

relative position

with the land of GarhwaL For seconds

its

thought

it

impossible for the tree to regain

it.

upright position, or for

I

me

to retain contact with

When

the pressure eased, the tree and

got back to where

we were
I

before the wind struck us, and fearing that

rifle

worse might

follow,

hurriedly tied the

to a branch, to have the

use of both hands.

equally bad,
if

The pine had

possibly withstood

many wind-storms
being on
it
I

not worse, but never with a

human
rifle

to

add

weight and increase wind-pressure.

When

the

was
all

safe,

climbed

out on to one branch after another, and broke off

pine-needles that
I

the tassels of
imagination,

could reach.

It

may
it

only have been

my

but after

had lightened the

it

tree

did not appear to heel over as

dangerously as

had

at first done. Fortunately the pine

its

was comparatively
like a

young and supple, and

roots firm set, for

it

was tossed about

it

blade of grass for an hour and then, as suddenly as

had

started, the

wind died down. There was no

after
I

possibility of the leopard returning, so,

had smoked

a cigarette,
rising a

followed the goat into the land of dreams.

As the sun was

earth,

cooee brought

me

back to within

fifty feet

of

and under die

tree

were

my two
I

companions of the previous

evening, reinforced by
I

two youths from

their village.

When

they saw that

was awake they asked whether and what had happened

I

night,

to

had heard the leopards during the the tree, and were hugely amused

when

told

them

had had

leopards, a friendly conversation with the

I

and that having nothing else to do

branches of the
that there

tree.

had been some

had amused myself by breaking the noticed then asked them if by chance they had on which one of littie wind during the night,
little

the youths answered, 'A

wind, sahib! Such

a big

wind has never

130

The Man- Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

been known, and

rejoined, 'That
is

it

has blown away

my

hut!

To which

his

companion

no matter

for regret, sahib, for Sher Singh has long

his hut,

been threatening to rebuild

and the wind has saved him the

trouble of dismantling the old one.'

MY NIGHT OF TERROR

FOR SEVERAL DAYS AFTER MY EXPERIENCE

lost

on the pine

tree

touch with the man-eater.

I

He

did not return to the broken ground

and'
tile

found no trace of him, or of the female

I

who
if

had saved

his

life,

in

miles of forest

searched on the high ground above the cultivated

I

land. In these forests

was more

at

home, and

the leopards had been

anywhere in them
birds

should have been able to find them, for there were

the forest that would have helped me.

and animals

in

The

female, being resdess, was quite evidendy straying far from her
call

home when she heard me

by the mate
alone,

from the top of the pine

tree,

and on

being joined by the male had gone back to her

I

own

area,

accompanied

had helped her to

find.

The male would

to procure a

presently return
left

and

as the precautions
it

now

being taken by the people on the

bank were making

difficult for

him

human

kill,

he would

so for the probably try to cross over to the right bank of the Alaknanda,

next few nights

mounted guard on the Rudraprayag bridge. bank, There were three approaches to the bridge on the left
I

die one

and on the from the south passing close to the bridge chowkidar's house,
fourth night

dog; a friendly heard the leopard killing the chowkidar's greet me every time I nondescript little beast that used to run out and
[

132

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

passed that way.

tor five

The dog seldom

barked, but that night

it

had been barking

by the

minutes when

suddenly the bark

ended

in a yelp, tallowed

shouting of the chowkidar from inside his house, after which there was
silence.

The thornbushes had been removed from

I

the archway and the

bridge was open, yet though

lay

with linger on trigger for the rest of

the night the leopard did not try to cross.

Alter killing the

1

dog and

leaving

it

lying

on the

road, the leopard, as

found from

his tracks

next morning, came to the tower. Five more

steps in the direction in

which he was going would have brought him out

on the

bridge, but those five steps he did not take. Instead he turned to

the right, and after going a short distance

bazaar,

up

the footpath towards the

to the north.

he returned and went up the pilgrim road

1

mile

up the road

lost his tracks.

I

Two
the

days later

received a report that a

cow had been

It

killed the

previous evening, seven miles

up the

pilgrim road.

was suspected

that

cow had been

killed

by the man-eater, for die previous nightthe

night die

dog had been

killed

the leopard had tried to break

open

the

door

house close to where, the next evening, the cow had been
the road
I

killed.

On

found a number of

men

waiting for
a

me who, knowing
shade of a mango-

diat the walk

up from Rudraprayag would be

While we

hot one, had very

thoughtfully provided a dish of tea.

tree

sat in the

and smoked, and

drank the dish of

tea,

they told

me

that the
it

cow
had

had not returned with the herd the previous evening, and that been found between the road and die
for
it

river

when

a search

had been made

that morning.

They

also told

me

of the

many

hairbreadth escapes

each of them had had from the man-eater during the past eight
years.
1

was very interested to learn from them

that the leopard

in

had only adopted his present habit of trying and

succeeding

man)

bo

break open the doors of houses three years

previously and that before he had been content to take people

who were

outside their houses, or from houses the dooi

left

which had been

open. 'N.m,' the)

SO bold thai

-aid. 'the s/u/un

^^^j

v/*^

has

become

sometimes when he

not been able to break

down

the

My
kku>r of

Night of Terror

133
at

^1

house, he has dug a hole through the

the way.'

mud

wall,

and got

his victims in

To those who do not know our

or the supernatural,
their courage,
it

hill-people, or understand their fear

will

seem

incredible that a people

die highest awards
a

renowned

for

and
a

who

have

won

on the held of

battle,

should permit

leopard to break open

door, or to dig a hole in a wall

of a house, in which in
kukris, or,

many

cases there
at

must have been men with

hand.
I

axes,

even in some cases, firearms

know

of only one case

in all
eater,
in a

those eight long years in which resistance was offered to the

man-

and

in that case the resister

was

woman. She was

sleeping alone
in the

house, the door of which she had

left

unfastened; this door, as

case of the
a lacerated

door of the house occupied by the

arm, opened inwards.
left leg,

woman who
room

escaped with

On

entering the

the leopard seized

the

woman's

and

as

it

dragged her across the room, the woman's

hand came
catde

in contact
this

with a gandesa a tool used for chopping chaff for

the

and with

woman

dealt the leopard a blow.

The leopard
it

did not release his hold, but backed out of the room, and as
either the

did so

woman pushed
it

the door, or else this happened accidentally

Whichever

may

have been, with the

woman on one
its

side of the

door

and the leopard on the other, the leopard exerted

tore the limb
for

great strength and

from the woman's body. Mukandi

United Provinces

Lai, at that

time

Member

Garhwal

in the

Legislative Council,

who was on an
a

electioneering tour, arrived in the village the following day and spent
night in the

room, but the leopard did not return.

Lai stated that seventy-five

In a report to the

Council,
killed

Mukandi

human
year,

beings had been

by die leopard in the course of that one

to launch a vigorous

and he asked the

Government

campaign against the man-eater.

villagers to
kill.

Accompanied by one of the

show me

die way, and by

killed in a

Madho
the

Singh,
a

went down

to the

The cow had been

deep ravine
river.

yards from quarter of a mile from the road and a hundred

were big rocks with dense were a hrushwood between, and on the other side of the ravine there

On

one

side of the ravine there

Few small trees,

none of which was big enough

kill,
I

to sit in.

Under

die trees,

and aboul thirty yards from the

at

there was a rock with a

little

hollow

the base of

it,

SO in the hollow

decided to

sit.

134

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudrqprayag

Both Madho Singh and the

on. the ground, hut as this
arrival at

villager

objected very strongly to

my

sitting

was the

first

animal
it

kill

had got since

my

Rudrapravag

in a place

where

was reasonable to expect the

-I

leopard to

come

at

an early hour

about sundown
my
I

overruled their

objections, and sent

them back

to the village.

My
and

seat

was drv and comfortable, and with

bush to conceal
I

back to the rock

a small

my

legs

was confident the leopard would

kill
it

not see me, and that

should be able to

before

it

was aware of

m\

presence.
rifle

had provided myself with

torch and a knife, and with

my good

across

my

knees

felt

that in this secluded spot

I

my

chances

of killing the leopard were better than any

had yet had.

in front of

Without movement and with

my

eyes

on the rocks

me

sat through the evening, each second bringing the time nearer

when

the

undisturbed and unsuspecting leopard would for a certainty return to his

kill.

The time

had been waiting for had come, and was passing. Objects
at

near

hand were beginning

a
little

to get blurred

and
I

indistinct.

The leopard was him

later in

coming than

had expected
I

to be, but that

was not worrying me, for

thirty yards

had

a
I

torch,

and the

kill

was only

from me, and

would be
I

careful over

my

shot and

make

quite sure that

did.

not have a wounded animal to deal with.

In the deep ravine there

was absolute

silence.

The

hot sun of the past few days had

made

the dead leaves

on the bank on which

very reassuring, for
it

was

sitting as

dry

as tinder.

This was
I

was now dark and whereas previously

had depended on

my

eyes for protection

now had

to
of

depend on

my
in

ears,

and with thumb on the button

I

the torch and finger on trigger

was

prepared to
slightest

shoot

any direction in which

heard the

sound.

The non-appearance of
beginning to cause

the leopard was

me

uneasiness.

Was

it

possible that from

place

some concealed

among

the rocks he hail been

all

watching

me

these hours, arid

My
he

Night of Terror

135

thruat?

nw
for

lickino his lips in anticipation of burying his teeth in

my

he had long been deprived of

his not having

human
if
I

flesh.

In

no other v

could

account for

come, and
feet,

were to have the good

halve to serve

>rtune to lea\e the ravine

as thev

on my

mv

ears

would

me
it

had never served

like
it

me
1

before.

For what seemed

hours

strained

mv
I

ears

and then, noticing

ing darker than

skv

should have been,

turned

mv

eyes

up to the
skv,

and saw that

heavy bank of clouds was drifting across the

obscuring the stars one by one. Shortly thereafter big drops of rain
started to
tall,

and where there had been absolute and complete

all

silence

there was

now sound and movement

round

round

the opportunity the

leopard had been waiting for had come. Hastilv taking off

my

coat

wound
The
it

it

my
I

neck, fastening

it

securely in place with the sleeves.

rifle

was now

useless but

might help to cause a diversion, so transferring

to Bay left

hand

unsheathed
knife

my

kniie
is

and got

good

grip of

it

with

mv
I

right hand.

The
it

was what

called an Afridi stabbing knife,

it

and

devoudv hoped

would serve me

as well as

had served
at

its late

owner,

for

when buying

it

from the Government store

Hangu on the North-

west Frontier, the Deputy Commissioner had drawn

label

my
but

attention to a
said
it

attached to

it

and to three notches on the handle, and

had

figured in three murders. Admittedly a

gruesome

relic,

was glad to

have

it

in

my

hand, and
is

clutched

it

tight while the rain lashed down.

like

Leopards, that

ordinary forest leopards, do not

rain

and

invariably seek shelter, but the

man-eater was not an ordinary leopard,

likes

and there was no knowing what his

or dislikes were, or what he

might or might not do.

When Madho
up,

Singh .was leaving he asked

I

how

long

intended
I

sitting

and

had answered 'Until

have shot the leopard,' so

I

could expect

no help from him, and of help

I

was

at that

time in urgent need. Should

go or should

and remain were the questions that were troubling me,

If

one option was as unattractive as the other.

not seen
fall

the leopard up to then had

me

it

would be

foolish to give
1

my

position away, and possibly

across

him on

thr difficult ground

should have to negotiate on

mv

way up to the pilgrim road.

for

On

the other

hand

to

remain where! was

fight for

another

six

hour*momentarily

expecting to have to

mv

36

The Mon-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

life

With an unfamiliar

weapon

would

put a strain on

my

nerves which

tliev

were not capable of standing; so getting to

rifle,
1

my

feet

and shouldering

the
1

set off.
far to go,

had not

only about

five

hundred

yards, half of

which
feet

was over wet

clay

and the other half over rocks worn smooth by bare

cattle.

and the hooves of

Afraid to use the torch for fear of attracting the

man-eater, and with one

the knife,

hand occupied with the

rifle

and the other with

my body made as many contacts with the ground as my rubbershod feet. When I eventually reached the road I sent a full-throated cooee village far up the into the night, and a moment later I saw a door in the carrying a hillside open and Madho Singh and his companion emerge,
lantern.

When
lantern,

the

two men joined me Madho Singh

said he

had had no
lit

uneasiness about

me

until the rain started,

and that he had then

listening.

the

and

sat

with his ear against the door

Both

men

were

willing to

accompany

me

back to Rudraprayag, so we

set out

on our

seven-mile walk, Bachi Singh leading,

following,

Madho

Singh carrying the lantern

and

bringing up the rear.

When

returned next day

I

found

the

kill

had not been touched, and on the road

found the tracks of the

man-eater.

What
I

time had elapsed between our going

us,
it

down
say.

the road

and the man-eater following

was not possible

I

to
it

When
terror
I

look back on that night,

look back on

as

my

night oi
I

have been frightened times without number, but never have

as
I

been frightened

was that night when the unexpected

of
all

rain

came

down and robbed me

murderer's knife.

my

defences, and left

me

for protection a

LEOPARD FIGHTS LEOPARD

AFTER FOLLOWING US TO RUDRAPRAYAG THE

down
had gone
a

leopard went

the pilgrim road through Golabrai, past the ravine up which he

few days previously, and then up a rough track which the

hills

people living on the

their

to the east of Rudraprayag use as a short cut

on

way

to and

from Hardwar.
is

The
on

pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Badrinath

the pilgrimage and
its

seasonal,

and the

commencement of
case

duration depend in the one

falling

the melting and in the other

on the

of snow in the upper

reaches of the high mountains in which these two shrines are situated.

The High

Priest of Badrinath
is

temple had a few days previously sent the

telegram that

eagerly awaited by

good Hindus throughout

the length

and breadth of India, announcing that the road was open, and for the
past

few days pilgrims

in small

numbers had been passing through

killed several pilgrims

Rudraprayag.

During the past few years the man-eater had

on the road, and
it

appeared to be his more or

less regular habit

while

the pilgrim season lasted to

go down the road

villages

to the extent of his beat,

hills

and then

circle

round through the

on the

to the east of

Rudraprayag, and rejoin the

Road anything up

to fifteen miles above

38

Th Man-Earing Leopard of Rudraprayag

Rudraprayag. the time take for this round trip varied, but on an average
I

had seen the leopard's tracks on the stretch of road between Rudraprayag
in

and Gokbrai once

every

five clays,

so

on my way back
I

to the Inspection

Bungalow

selected a place from

where

could overlook the road, and

tor the next

two nights

sat in great

comfort on a hayrick, without however

eing anything of the leopard.

I

received no

news of the man-eater from outlying

I

villages for

two

days,

and on the third morning

if

went down the pilgrim road

visited
I

for six

miles to try to find out

the direction.

he had recently

any of the

villages in

From

this

twelve-mile walk

returned at midday, and

arrived an reported that
a

while

was having

a late breakfast

two

men

bov had been

killed the previous

evening at Bhainswara, a

village eighteen

miles south-east of Rudraprayag.

The

intelligence system introduced

this

by Ibbotson was working splendidly

scale,

Under

system cash rewards, on a graduated

all

were paid

lor

information about

kills

in the area in

which the man-eater was

for a goat

operating. These rewards, starting with

two rupees

and working
for,

up

to twenty rupees for a

human

being, were keenly contested

all kills

and

so ensured our receiving information about

possible.

in die shortest time

When put ten rupees into the hands of each of the men who had brought me news about the boy, one of tliem offered to acccompany me back to Bhainswara to show me die way, while the other said he would
I

stay the night at

Rudraprayag

as

he had recently had fever and could not

day.
I

do another eighteen miles that

were
telling

finished breakfast while the

1

men

me

their tale,

and

a little before
a

p.m.

set otT, taking only

my

rifle,

lew cartridges, and

torch with me. As

we

crossed the road

hill

near the Inspection Bungalow and started up the steep

side of
it,

on the

far

my companion
it

informed

me we had
be out

very long way to go,

I

adding that
to

would not be

safe for us to
I

after dark, so
it

told

him

walk ahead and set the pace.

a

never
I

if

can help

walk
flat

uphill
first

immediately alter

meal, but here

had no option, and for the

I

three miles, in which

in

we climbed
guide.

lour diousand feet,

had great

difficulty

keeping up with

my

short stretch of comparatively

ground

Uopard
the end of die three miles gave
set the pace.

Fights Leopard

139

at

|,

tU

my

wind, and after that

walked ahead and

On
to try

their

way

to

Rudrapmyag

the two

men had
kill,

told the people in

their intention
I

the villages they had passed through about die

and of

and persuade

me

to

accompany them back

I

to Bhainswara. to the
call,

do not

think that anyone doubted that

Milage the entire population

would answer
for

for at every

were waiting

me, and while some gave

district until I

me

their blessings, others

begged

me

not to leave the

had

killed their

enemy.

My
as

companion had assured

crested
hill

me

that

we had
valleys

eighteen miles to go, and

between I realized I had undertaken to walk against time eighteen of the longest and hardest miles I had ever walked. The sun was near setting when, from the crest of

we

after hill

with deep

one of these unending

ridge a few

hills,

saw

number of men

standing on a

hundred yards ahead of

us.

On

catching sight of us

some

of the

men

disappeared over the ridge, while others came forward to

the
latter,

meet

us.

The headman of Bhainswara was among

and

after

he had greeted me, he cheered

me

by

telling

me

that his village was

his

just over the crest of the

hill,

and that he had sent

ready.

son

back to get tea

The 14th of April 1926

that will long be

is

a date in

remembered
was on

Garhwal, for

it

that day

that the man-eating leopard of

Rudraprayag

killed his last

human

victim.

On

the
a

evening of that day

widow and her two

children, a girl aged nine

and

boy aged twelve,

by
a

accompanied
went
to

neighbour's son aged eight,

to a spring a

few yards from Bhainswara

village

draw water

for the preparation of their evening

me al.

40

Th Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraproyag

The widow and her children occupied

house in the middle of

double-storied, the lowtons row of homesteads. These homesteads were ceilitwed cround floor being used for the storage of grain and fuel, and

the

first

floor for residences.

veranda four feet wide ran the entire

length of the building, and short flights of stone steps flanked by walls
gave access to the veranda, each flight of steps being used by two families,

flagged courtyard, sixty feet

a

wide and three hundred

feet long,

bordered

bv

low

wall,

extended along the whole length of the building.

The neighbour's son was leading as the party of four approached the steps used bv the widow and her children, and as the boy started to

mount

the steps he saw an animal, which he mistook for a dog, lying in

an open

room on

the ground floor adjoining the steps; he said nothing

about the animal at the time, and the others apparently did not see it. The boy was followed by the girl, the widow came next, and her son
brought up the
steps, the
rear.

When

she was half-way up the short

brass vessel her son

flight

of stone

mother heard the heavy

and go
rolling

was carrying crash

on the

steps

carelessness, she set her

down them; reprimanding him for his own vessel down on the veranda and turned to

see

what damage her son had done. At the bottom of the steps she saw then looked the overturned vessel She went down and picked it up, and round for her son. As he was nowhere in sight she assumed he had
got frightened and had run away, so she started calling to him. Neighbours in adjoining houses had heard the noise made by the
falling vessel

and now, hearing the mother

and asked what
all

calling to her son, they

It

came

to their doors

the trouble was about.

was suggested

that the boy might be hiding in

'

one of the ground-floor rooms, so as it down was now getting dark in these rooms, a man lit a lantern and came blood on the steps towards the woman, and as he did so he saw drops of
the flagstones where the

woman was
had

standing.

At the sound of the man's

courtyard, among horrified ejaculation other people descended into the accompanied his master on many shooting

whom was

an old

man who

this old expeditions. Taking the lantern from the owner's hand,

man

low wall. Beyond followed the blood traU across the courtyard and over the here in the soft earth the wall was a drop of eight feet into a yam field; moment no were the splayed-out pug-marks of a leopard. Up to that

Leopard Fights Leopard

141

one suspected

llut the

boy had been carried off by

it

a man-eater, for

though

cvervone had heard about the leopard

had never previously been within

ten miles of their village. As soon as they realized

what had happened the

women
and

began screaming and while some

drums, others ran for guns

in a

men

ran to their houses for

of which there were three in the village

out.

few minutes pandemonium broke

fired.

Throughout the night

drums were beaten and guns were

recovered, and two

At daylight the boy's body was

men were

dispatched to Rudraprayag to inform me.

As

approached the

village in

company with
her dead.
It

the headman,

heard

the wailing of a
victim,

woman mourning
first

was the mother of the

and she was the

to greet me. Even to

just as
I

my

unpractised eye

it

was apparent that the bereaved mother had

storm and was heading for another, and
with people in this condition
I

weathered one

hysterical

lack the art of dealing

was anxious

to spare the

woman

a recital

of the events of the previous evening; but she appeared to be eager to

give

me

her version of the

itself it

story, so

let

her have her way As the story

in telling
it

unfolded

was apparent that her object

was

to ventilate

her grievance against the

men

of the village for not having run after the

'as

leopard and rescued her son

his father

would have done had he

I

been

alive'.

In her accusation against the

men

told her she

was
I

unjust,

and in her belief that her son could have been rescued
she was wrong. For

alive,

told her

when

the leopard clamped his teeth round the boy's

throat, the canine teeth dislocated the

head from the neck and the boy

courtyard, was already dead before the leopard carried him across the done would and nothing the assembled menor anyone elsecould have

have been of any use.

thoughtfully been Standing in the courtyard drinking the tea that had people who were provided for me, and nothing the hundred or more animal the size of a gathered round, it was difficult to conceive how an being seen by any leopard had crossed the courtyard in daylight without

of the people
its

who must

have been moving about

at that time,

or

how

the village. presence had gone undetected by the dogs in the boy that the leopard carrying I climbed down the eight-foot wall
field,

the yam had jumped down, and followed the drag across

down
this

another wall twelve feet high, and across another

field.

At the edge of

142
second

Th Man-lafing Lwopard of Rudraprayag

field

there was a thick hedge of

rambkr

roses, lour feet high.

Here the leopard had released his hold on the hoy's throat, and after hedge and not finding one, he had picked searching tor an opening in the
the
a

leaping the hedge, gone down boy up by the small of the back and,
feet high

w all ten

on the

far side.

There was a

cattle track at the foot

a short distance along it of this third wall and the leopard had only gone when the alarm was raised in the village. The leopard had then dropped

the boy

on the

cattle track

and gone

down

the

hill.

He was

prevented
firing of

from returning to

his kill

by the beating of drums and the

night in the village.
to have

guns which had gone on

all

The obvious
the
sat

thing for

me
to
I

done would have been to carry

left
it,

body of the boy back

over
it

where the leopard had

and

to have

there.

But here

was faced with two difficultiesthe absence

sit,

of a suitable place in which to

unsuitable place.

and

my

aversion to sitting in an

The

nearest tree, a leafless walnut, was three hundred yards away, and

courage was therefore out of the question, and quite frankly I lacked the sundown; it had taken to sit on the ground. 1 had arrived at the village at
a little

time to drink the

tea,

hear the mother's

story,

and

trail

the leopard,

and there was not

that
if I

sufficient daylight left for

me

to construct a shelter

would have given

sat

me
I

even the semblance of protection; therefore

sit

on the ground

should have to

just anywhere, not

knowing
full

from which
that
if

direction the leopard

would come, and knowing

well

the leopard attacked

I

me

should get no opportunity of using the

one weapon with which

was

familiar,

my
it is
I

rifle,

for

when

in actual contact

with an unwounded leopard or tiger

not possible to use firearms.

I

When
the
chain.

after

my

tour of inspection

returned to the courtyard,

peg, a

asked
a

headman

for a crowbar, a stout

I

wooden

hammer, and

dog

With the crowbar

prised

up one of the

flagstones in the middle

ground, and fastened of the courtyard, drove the peg firmly into the die headman I carried one end of the chain to it. Then with the help of
the body of the boy to the peg and chained
it

there.

The working of
one man
calls Fate

period to life, which the intangible force which sets a During another calls kismet, is incomprehensible.

and

the the past few days this force had set a period to

life

of a breadwinner,

Leopard Fights Leopard

143

le.ning his family destitute; had

an old led)
short
this

who
oi

alter

.1

painful way the days of lifetime of toil was looking forward to a few
111

ended

wry

comparative comfort; and now, had cut short the life of boy who, hv the look of him, had been nurtured with care by his
that the bereaved

wars

widowed mother. Small wonder then

in

mother should

between her

hysterical crying, be repeating over

and over and over

loved by
all,

again,

'What crime, Parmcshwar, has

that

my
life

son,

who was

committed

on

the threshold of

he has deserved death

in this

terrible way?'

Before prising up the flagstone,

had asked for the mother and her

daughter to be taken to

room
I

at the very

end of the row of

and asked

buildings.

My

preparations completed,
I

washed

at the spring

for a

bundle

of straw, which

laid

on the veranda

in front of the

door of the house

vacated by the mother.

Darkness had
as silent

now

fallen.

Having asked the assembled people

to be

during the night

as
I

it

was possible

for

them

to be

and sent them

to their respective

homes,

took up

my

position
a little

on the veranda, where

straw in front,
I

by lying prone on

my

side
kill

and heaping
without

could

get a clear view of the

In spite of

all

the noise that

much chance had been made

of being seen myself.

the previous night,
I

had

a feeling that the leopard

kill

would
it,

return, and that

when he

failed

to find his

where he had

left

he would come to die

village to try
first

to secure another victim.

at

The

ease with which he had got his

I

victim
vigil

Bhainswara would encourage him to try again, and

started

my

with high hopes.

Heavy clouds had been gathering

all

the evening, and at 8 p.m.,

when

all

the village
flash

soundexcept

the wailing of the

roll

womanwere

hushed, a

of lightning followed by a distant

of thunder heralded

the lightning being an approaching storm. For an hour the storm raged, ventured into the courtyard I so continuous and brilliant that had a rat

should have seen and probably been able to shoot

it.

The

rain eventually
to a tew

stopped but, the sky remaining overcast,

inches.

visibility

was reduced

The time had now come

start for the leopard to

from wherever
would

the time he had been sheltering from the storm, and

oi his arrival

depend on the distance of

that place

from the

village.

144
he

Th Man-Earing Leopard of Rudraprayag

woman
to

had now slopped wailing, and

as
I

in all the

world there
had to warn
I

appeared

be no sound. This was

had hoped,
ears,

for

all I

me

that the leopard

had come were

my

and to help them

had

used the dog chain instead of a rope.

The straw

that

had been provided for

the black darkness,

me
first

was

as

dry

as tinder

and
it

mv
was

ears, straining into level

heard the sound when

with
straw-*

my

feet

something was creeping, very

I

stealthily creeping,

over the

on which
left

was

lying.

was wearing an

article

of clothing

called shorts,

which

my
I

legs bare in the region of

my

knees. Presently,
It

against this bare skin,

felt

the hairy coat of an animal brushing.

could only be the man-eater, creeping up until he could lean over and
get a grip of

mv

throat.

little

pressure
I

now on my

left

shoulder

to

get a foothold
rifle

and

then, just as

was about to press the

trigger of the

to cause a diversion, a small animal

jumped down between my arms

had been caught out

and

my

chest. It

was a

little

kitten, soaking wet, that

in the

storm and, finding every door shut, had come to

me
my

for

warmth
and

and protection.

The
was

kitten

had hardly made

itself

comfortable inside
fright
it

coat,

just beginning to recover

from the

had given me, when from

beyond the terraced

fields there

was some low growling which gradually

fight
I

grew louder, and then merged into the most savage

have ever

heard. Quite evidently the man-eater had returned to the spot where the

previous night he had

in

left his kill,

and while he was searching

for

it,

not too good

temper, another male leopard

who

looked upon

this

particular area as his hunting-ground,

had accidentally come across him

and

set

on him.

Fights of the nature of

the one that was taking place in

my
and

hearing are very unusual, for carnivores

invariably
if

keep to

their

own

areas,

by chance two of the same sex happen to meet, they size up each other's
capabilities at a glance,

and the
was

weaker

gives

way

to the stronger.
old,
a

The man-eater, though

in the big and a very powerful male, and

Leopard Fights Leopard

145
no other

five

hundred square miles he ranged over there was

rule,

possibly

male capable of disputing his

but here

at

Bhainswara he was a stranger

/

and to get out of the trouble he had brought on himself he would have to fight for his life. And this he was undoubtedly doing.
and
a trespasser,

My

chance of getting

a shot

had

now
for

gone, for even

if

the man-eater

succeeded in defeating his attacker,

his injuries

would probably prevent

to come.

him from
even

taking any interest in

kills

some time

There was

a possibility

of the fight ending

fatally for

him, and here would

indeed be an unexpected end to

his career: killed in

an accidental

encounter by one of

his

own

kind,

when

the combined efforts of the

Government and the public had

accomplish
this end.

failed,

over a period of eight years, to

The

first

round, lasting about

five

minutes, was fought with unabating

savagery,

and was inconclusive,

for at the

end of

it

could

still

hear both

animals. After an interval of ten or fifteen minutes the fight was resumed,

but

at a distance

of two to three hundred yards from where

it

had

originally

started; quite evidently the local

champion was

getting the better of the

and was gradually driving the intruder out of the ring. The third no less round was shorter than the two that had preceded it, but was
fight

savage,

and when

fight after another long period of silence the

hill,

was again
after

of the resumed, the scene had receded to the shoulder

a

where

few minutes
There were

it

died out of hearing.

six

still

hours of darkness

left;

even so

knew my mission
would be fought

to Bhainswara

had

failed,

and that

my hope

that the fight

to a finish

man-eater had been shortand would end in the death of the degenerated which the contest had now lived In the running fight into not likely to reduce injuries, but they were the man-eater would sustain
his craving for
as Ac throughout the night, and kitten slept peacefully courtyard descended into-the of dawn showed in the east 1

human

ability to secure flesh or impair his

it.

The

M
first

^k

the

had remove boy to the shed from where we had been used for blanket which previously with knocked on his headman was still asleep when I time to make, an which I knew would take some when he his village; and man-eater would never again visit

him him, andcovered

*^ ^ ^
pronlise d

the^.
p

146

Th Man-EaHng Leopard of Rudraprayag

make immediate .inangements to have the boy carried set off on my long walk back to Rudraprayag. ghat,
10
I

to the burning-

No
Dav
full

matter

how

often

we

fail

in

any endeavour,

we

never get used to

the feeling of depression that assails us after each successive failure.

after dav over a period of

months

had

left
I

the Inspection Bungalow

success,

of hope that on this particular occasion

I

would meet with

and day after day

failures only

had returned disappointed and depressed. Had

my

concerned myself they would not have mattered, but

failures

in the

task

had undertaken those

concerned others more than they

I

concerned me. Bad luckfailures

for

to nothing else could

attribute

my

was

being meted out to

effect

me
I

in ever-increasing measure,

and the

accumulated
that
I

was beginning

to depress

me

and

give

me

the feeling

was not destined to do what

had

set

out to do.

What but bad

trees?
thirty square

luck had

made

the man-eater drop his

luck had

kill

where there were no

possibly

And what but bad

made

a leopard

who

had

miles in which to wander, arrive at a particular spot in those thirty miles

just as the man-eater,

not finding

his kill

where he had
1

left

it,

was quite

conceivably

on

his

way

to the village

where

was waiting

for

him?

The
and the

eighteen miles had been long yesterday but they were longer today,
hills

were

steeper. In the villages

I

passed through the people

were eagerly awaiting me, and though

only had bad news they did not

show

their disappointment. Their boundless faith in their philosophy, a

faith strong

enough

to

move mountains and very soothing

to depressed

feelings, that

no human beings and no animals can die before their appointed time, and that the man-eater's time had not yet come, called
for

no explanation, and admitted of no argument.

Ashamed

of the depression and feeling of frustration that

had
last

permitted to accompany
village

me

throughout the morning,

halt

left

the

where
I

I
I

had been made to

and drink a cup of

tea

greatly

cheered, and as

swung down the

last

four miles to Rudraprayag

became

aware that

was treading on the pug-marks of the man-eater. Strange how observation. one's mental condition can dull, or sharpen, one's powers of

The man-eater had

and
a

quite possibly joined the track

many

miles farther

back, and now, after

drink of tea

my
I

conversation with the simple village- folk was seeing his pug-marks for the first time that

Leopard Fights Leopard

47

morning. The track here ran over red

clay

which the

rain

had softened,
at his

and the pug marks of the man-eater showed that he was walking

accustomed pace. Half a mile farther on he started to quicken and

this

his pace,

pace he continued to maintain

until

he reached the head of

had gone.

the ravine above Golabrai;

down
is

this ravine the leopard

at its

When

a leopard

or tiger

walking

normal pace only the imprints

is

of the hind feet are seen, but

when

the normal pace

for any reason

forefeet,

exceeded, the hind feet are placed on the ground in advance of the

and thus the imprints of

the imprints of the fore

all

four feet are seen.

feet

From

the distance between

and the hind

it is

possible to determine the

travelling.

speed

at

which an animal of the cat

tribe

was

The coming of

daylight

would

in this instance

have been sufficient reason for the man-

eater to have
I

quickened

his pace.

capabilities, had previously had experience of the man-eater's walking better but only when ranging his beat in search of food. Here he had a anxious to put reason for the long walk he had undertaken, for he was leopard who had as great a distance as possible between himself and the

given
will

him

a lesson in the law of trespass;

how

been severe that lesson had

be apparent from a description given

later.

SHOT

IN

THE DARK

MEALTIMES IN INDIA VARY ACCORDING TO

year and individual tastes. In

the season of the

most establishments the recognized times

1

for the three principal meals are: breakfast, 8 to 9; lunch,

to 2; and

dinner, 8 to 9.

During

all

the

months

was

at

Rudraprayag

my

mealtimes

were very

erratic,

and contrary to the accepted belief that health depends

regularity of meals,

on the composition and

meals kept

my

unorthodox and

irregular

me

fighting

fit.

Porridge supped at 8 p.m., soup taken at 8 a.m.,

one combined meal

injurious effect
I

in the

day or no meal at
little

all,

appeared to have no
bones.
I

beyond taking a

flesh off

my

had eaten nothing since

my
I

breakfast the previous day, so as

intended spending the night out

had a nondescript meal on

my

return

from Bhainswara, and

to

after

an hour's sleep and a bath

set off for Golabrai

warn the

pundit

who owned

the pilgrim shelter of the presence in his

vicinity
I

of the man-eater.

had made friends with the pundit on

I

my

first arrival at

Rudraprayag

and

never passed his house without having a few words with him, for in

addition to the

many

interesting tales

he had to

tell

about the man-eater

and the pilgrims

two people the

who passed tiirough Golabrai, he was one of the only woman who escaped with the lacerated arm being the

Shot

in

the Dark

149

otherwhom
C">ne

nu

during

my
a

stay in

GarhwaJ who had survived an

had
lived in a village Further
a visit to

encounter with the man-eater,

of his tales concerned

woman who
this

down

the road, and with

whom

he had been acquainted. After

(he Rudrapravag bazaar

one day

woman

arrived at Golabrai late in

the evening, and fearing she

would not be
let

able to reach her

home

before

dark she asked the pundit to

her spend the night in his

shelter.

This

he permitted her to do advising her to sleep in front of the door of the

storeroom in which he kept the

for,

articles

of food purchased by the pilgrims,

the one side,
in the

he

said, she
fifty

would then be protected by the room on

or

and by the
shelter

more

pilgrims

who were

spending the night

on the
shelter

other.

The

was a

grass

shed open on the side nearest the road, and

hill;

boarded up on the side nearest the

the store-room was

midway

along
floor

the shed, but was recessed into the

of the shed, so

hill

and did not obstruct the

at the

when

the

woman

lay

down

door of the store-room

there were rows of pilgrims between her and the road.

Some

time during

the night

one of the

been stung by a

women scorpion. No

pilgrims screamed out and said she had

lights

were

available,

but with the help of

matches of woman's foot was examined and

a little

a small scratch

from which
that the

blood was flowing was found on her

a lot of fuss about nothing,
sting, the pilgrims

foot.

Grumbling

woman had made

and that

in any case blood

did not flow from a scorpion

soon composed themselves

and resumed their

In the morning,

sleep.

when

the the pundit arrived from his house on

sari

hill

above the

mango

tree,

he saw a

worn by hill-women
sari

lying

on the

road in front of the

shelter,

and on the

there was blood.

The pundit

place in the had given his friend what he considered to be the safest round her the leopard shelter, and with fifty or more pilgrims lying all

and accidental^ had walked over the sleeping people, killed the woman,
scratched the sleeping pilgrim's foot

when
why

The returning to the road.

explanation given by the pundit as to

rejected the the leopard had

person she was the only pilgrims and carried off the hill-woman was that
in

the shelter that night

is

who was wearing

a coloured
fact that

S""

explanation

not convincing, and but for the

eopaic

^^

150

The Man-Eoting Laopard of Rudraprayag

hunt by scent,
in the shelter

m.)

own

explanation would have been that of

all

the people

the hill-woman

was the only one who had

being the only one of
all

a familiar smell.

Wfes

it

just

had

luck, or fate, or

the sleepers

who

realized the
in

danger of sleeping in an open shed?

Had

the victim's fear

some

inexplicable

way conveyed

itseli

to the man-eater,

and

attracted

him
It

to her?

was not long after

this

occurrence that the pundit had his own

encounter with the man-eater. The exact date

which

could

if

desired

be ascertained from the hospital records at Rudraprayag

is

immaterial,
it

and for the purpose of

my

story

it

will

be

sufficient to say that

took

place during the hottest part of the

summer

of 1921, that

is

four years

before

met the

pundit. Late

one evening of that summer ten pilgrims

at Golabrai,

from Madras arrived weary and footsore

and expressed

their
if

intention of spending the night in the pilgrim shelter. Fearing that

any

more people were

killed at Golabrai his shelter

would get

bad reputation,

the pundit tried to persuade

to Rudraprayag,

them

to continue

on

for another
safe

two miles

where they would be ensured of

accommodation.

Finding that nothing he could say had any effect on the tired pilgrims, he
finally

consented to give them accommodation in his house,

fifty

which was

yards above the mango-tree to

attention.

which

have

already

drawn

The
as the

pundit's

house was

built

on the same plan

low ground-floor
a first-floor

homesteads

at Bhainswara; a

room used
used

for storage of fuel,

and

room

as a residence.

short flight of stone steps

gave access to a narrow veranda, the door of the

residential
at

room being

opposite to the landing

the top of the steps.

After the pun dit and the ten guests that had

been forced on him had eaten their evening

meal, they locked themselves into the room, which

was not provided with any means of

heat in the

ventilation.

The

room was

stifling,

and fearing

that he

would be

suffocated the pundit

some time during

the

A
night
pillars

Shot

in

the Dark

151

opened the door, stepped

on

outside, and stretched his hands to the cither side of the steps supporting die roof of the veranda. As
Pilled his

he did so ami
in a Nice.

kings with die night

air,

his throat

was gripped

as

Retaining his hold on the

pillars,

he got the soles of

his feet

against the

body of
his

teeth

from

and with a desperate kick tore the leopard's throat, and hurled it down the steps. Then, fearing
his assailant
faint,

that

he took a step sideways and supported himself by putting both hands on the railing of the veranda, and the moment he did

he was going to

up from below and buried its claws in his left forearm. The downward pull was counteracted by the railing on which the pundit had the palm of his hand, and the weight of the leopard caused
so the leopard sprang
its

sharp claws to rip through the flesh of his

arm

until they tore free at

his wrist.

Before the leopard was able to spring a second time, the pilgrims,

hearing the terrifying sounds the pundit was making in his attempts to
breathe through the gap torn in his throat, dragged him into the

room
lay

and bolted the door. For the rest of that long hot night the pundit

gasping for breath and bleeding profusely, while the leopard growled and

clawed

at the frail door,

and the pilgrims screamed with

pundit,

terror.

At daylight the pilgrims carried the

now mercifully
for three

unconscious,

to a Kalakamli hospital at Rudraprayag,

where

months he was

fed through a silver tube inserted in his throat. After an absence of over
six

months he returned

to his

home

in Golabrai,

broken

in health

and
and

with his hair turned grey. Photographs were taken

scarcely
face

five years later,

show

the leopard's teeth-marks

on the

left side

of the pundit's

and
still

in his throat,

and

its

claw-marks on his

left

arm, though they

were

clearly visible.

In his conversations with

eater as an evil spirit,

me

the pundit always referred to the man-

and

after the first day,

when he had

asked

me what
spirits

proof

could give him in face of his

I

could not assume material form,

own experience that evil also, to humour him, referred

told the pundit of

to die

man-eater as 'the

evil spirit'.

On
visit

arrival at

Golabrai that evening

my

fruitless

to Bhainswara,

and warned him to take extra precautions

tor his
in his

safety

and for the

safety of any pilgrims

who might

be staying

152

Th Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

:,-i,

for the evil spirit, after

its

long excursion into the

hills,

had now

returned to the vicinity

That night,

and for the following three nights,

sat

on the

haystack,

keeping

watch on the road; and on the fourth

clay

Ibbotson returned

from

Pauri.

Ibbotson always infused

the locals, was that
yesterday, for surely
lot to tell

new

life

into

me, for
if

his creed, like that of

no one was
it

to

blame

the man-eater had not died

I

would died today or maybe tomorrow.

I

had

him, for though

had corresponded with him

regularly

extracts

from

my

letters

being embodied in his reports to the Government,

and by them made

available to the press

had not been able to

give

him
also

all

the details which he was

lot to tell

now

eager to hear.

On

his part Ibbotson

had a

me;

this

concerned the clamour being made

in the

press for the destruction of the man-eater, and the suggestion that

sportsmen from
assist in killing

all

parts of India be encouraged to go to

Garhwal

to

the leopard. This press campaign had resulted in Ibbotson

inquiry,

receiving only
a

one

and only one

suggestion.

The inquiry was from

accommodation,

sportsman

who
his

said that, if

arrangements for
his satisfaction,

his travel,

food, and so on,

it

were made to
while to

he would consider whether

was worth

come

to Golabrai; and the suggestion was from

easiest

sportsman in whose opinion the speediest and

way of
its

killing to

the leopard was to paint a goat over with arsenic, sew

up

mouth

prevent

it

licking

itself,
it,

and then

tie it

up

in a place

where the leopard

would

find

and eat

and so poison

itself.

We
going

talked long that day, reviewing

I

my many

failures in

minutest

detail,

and by lunch-time, when

had told Ibbotson of die leopard's habit

of

down

the road between Rudraprayag and Golabrai on an average

I

once

in every five days,

convinced him that the only hope

now had

of
I

shooting the leopard was by sitting over the road for ten nights,

for, as

pointed out to him, the leopard would be almost certain to use the road
at least

once during the period. Ibbotson consented to my plan very reluctantly, for I had already sat up many nights and he was afraid that
another ten on end would be too
point,

much
if
I
I

for

me. However,

carried

my

and then told Ibbotson that

did not succeed in killing the

Tal

leopard within the stipulated time,

would return to Naini

and

leave

A
the Bold free for any
to take

Shot

in

the Dark

153

new-comers who might consider

it

worth tb leir w;hile

my

pla<

That evening Ibbotson accompanied

to

me

to Golabrai

and helped

me

put up a muchan

in die

mango

tree a

hundred yards from the pilgrim

shelter
tree,

and

fifty

yards below the pundit's house. Immediately below the

and
peg

in the middle of the road,

we
high

drove a stout wooden peg, and to

its

this

we

tethered a goat with a small bell round

its full;

neck.

The moon
few hours,

was nearly at

even

so, the

hill

to the east of Golabrai only

valley for a

admitted of the

moon

lighting

up the deep Ganges

it

and
his

if

the leopard

came while

was dark the goat would warn me of

approach.

When
While
I

all

our preparations had been made Ibbotson returned to the

bungalow, promising to send two of

sat

my men
sat

for

me

early next morning.

on

rock near the foot of the tree and smoked and waited

for night to close in, the pundit

bhakti

came and

down
from

beside me; he was a

and did not smoke. and he

Earlier in the evening

he had seen us building

sitting all night in the
1

the machan,
tree
I

now

tried to dissuade

me

when

could sleep comfortably in bed. Nevertheless,

that night in the tree,
kill

assured

him
if

would

sit all

and
I

for nine nights thereafter, for

least

was not able to

the

evil spirit

could at
enemies.

guard his house and

the night a
silent.

the pilgrim shelter

kakar barked
sunrise next

from attack by
hill

all

Once during

on the

above me, but diereafter the night was

arrived,

At

morning two of my men

I

and

set off for the Inspection

Bungalow, exarnining the road as

went

for pug-marks, and leaving the

men

to follow with

my

rug and

rifle.

During the following nine days

the bungalow accompanied by

my programme

did not vary. Leaving

I

two men

in the early evening,

took up

my

position in the machan and sent the

get back to the

to leave the

bungalow before dusk.

it

men away in time for them to The men had strict orders not
and they arrived each
far side of the river

bungalow before

was

fully light,
hills

morning

as the

sun was rising on the

on the

and

accompanied
During
all

me

back to the bungalow.

kakar on the first night those ten nights the barking of the the vicinity we had was all that I heard. That the man-eater was still in broken into houses ample proof, for twice within those ten nights it had

54

Rudraprayag The Man-iating Leopard of

mil carried
a

oil',

on the

lust occasion, a goat and,

kills

on the second occasion,

had been carried

sheep.

found both

with

some

difficulty for they

had been of any use to me as they had been long distance, hut neither those ten nights the leopard had broken eaten out Once also during fortunately for the inmates, had two the door of a house which,

down

rooms, the door of the inner

the leopard's onslaught.

room being

sufficiently strong to withstand

On

return to the bungalow after

I

my

tenth night in the

mango

tree,

Ibbotson and

discussed our future plans.

No

further communications

had been received from the sportsman, no one

to accept the

else

had expressed a desire

Government's

invitation,

and no one had responded to the

I

appeals

made by

the press. Neither Ibbotson nor

could afford to spend

his

more time

at Rudraprayag;

Ibbotson because he had been away from

it
I

headquarters for ten days and

to attend to urgent work;

was necessary
because
I

for

him

to return to Pauri

and

had work

to

do

in Africa

and

departure for three months and could not delay it any Garhwal to the tender mercies longer. Both of us were reluctant to leave it was hard to decide what of the man-eater and yet, situated as we were,

had delayed

my

to do.

One

solution

was

for Ibbotson to apply for leave,

and for

me

to

cancel

my

passage to Africa and cut

my

losses.

We

finally

agreed to leave

the decision over for that night, and to decide

on our

line
I

of action next

morning. Having

come

to this decision

told Ibbotson

would spend

my

last

night in Garhwal in the

mango

tree.

Ibbotson accompanied

me on

that eleventh,
a

and

last,

evening, and as

we approached

Golabrai

we saw

number of men
little

standing

on the

side

of the road, looking

down

into a field a

beyond the mango

tree; the

men had
moved

not seen us and before

we

got up to

them they turned and

off towards the pilgrim shelter.

One

of them however looked back,

and seeing

me

beckoning retraced

his steps. In

answer to our questions

watching a great he said he and his companions had for an hour been to field. No crops appeared fight between two big snakes down in die snakes had last been have been grown there for a year or more, and the There were smears of seen near the big rock in the middle of the field. made by the snakes, blood on this rock, and the man said they had been places. Having which had bitten each other and were bleeding in several

156

The Mart-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

pilgrim shelter and cross the road.

tile

minute or two

later,

he recrossed

the lantern and at the road and on gaining the shelter extinguished barking furiously. The dogs same moment the packman's dogs started

quite possibly had seen were unmistakably barking at a leopard, which coming down the road on its way the man with the lantern and was now
to the shelter.

At

first

the digs barked in the direction of the road, but after a

little

while they turned and barked in

my

direction.

The leopard had now

and
lain

quite evidently caught sight of the sleeping goat

sight of the

down out

of

dogs

which had

stopped barkings

to consider his next

move.
using
as

knew

that the leopard

had

arrived,

and

also

knew

that he was

my

tree to stalk the goat,

and the question that was tormenting

me

the long minutes dragged by was whether he

kill

would

skirt
kill

round the

goat and
give

one of the pilgrims, or whether he would

the goat and

me

a shot.
all

During

the nights

had

sat in the tree I

adopted

a position that

would enable
and
in the

me

to discharge

my

rifle

with the

minimum

of

movement

of time. The distance between the goat and my the dense machan was about twenty feet, but the night was so dark under penetrate even this foliage of the tree that my straining eyes could not

minimum

short distance, so

closed
I

them and concentrated on my

a small electric torch attached,
I

hearing.

My

rifle,

to

which

had

was pointing

in the direction

of the goat, and

it

was

just

beginning to think that the

leopardassuming
was selecting
a

was the man-eater

victim,

had

reached the shelter and

human

when

there was a rush from the foot of

button of the the tree, and the goat's bell tinkled sharply Pressing the shoulder of a torch I saw that the sights of the rifle were aligned on the
leopard, and without having to

move

the

rifle

a fraction of an inch

pressed the

trigger,

and

as

did so the torch went out.

as they are
it

Torches in those days were not in as general use

now, and

mine was the

first I

had ever possessed.

to use
it,

had carried

for several
life

months

and never had occasion

or that
it

and
it.

did not
1

know

the

of the battery,
this

was necessary to

test

When
flash

pressed the button on

occasion the torch gave only one

again in

and then went out, and I was shot had been. darkness without knowing what the result of my

dim

Shot in the Dork

57

The echo of my
opened
his

shot

was dying away

if
I

in the valley

when
I

the pundit

door and called out to ask

all

needed any

help.

was

at

the the
/

time listening with

leopard, so
I

my

ears for any sounds that might

come from

did not answer him, and he hurriedly shut his door.

lying across the road with his head
his having

The leopard had been

away from

me when
thought
I

fired,

and

was vaguely aware of

sprung over the

I

goat and gone

down
The

the hillside, and just before the pundit had called

heard what

may

have been a gurgling sound, but of

this

could

not be sure.

pilgrims had been aroused by

my
1

shot but, after

murmuring

for a

few minutes, they resumed

their sleep.

The goat
tell

appeared to be unhurt, for from the sound of

his bell

could

that

he

was moving about and apparently eating the

a liberal
I

grass of

which he was given

supply each night.

fired

had

my
and

shot at 10 p.m. As the

as there

moon was

not due to

rise for
I

several hours,

was nothing

could do in the meantime,

made myself
Hours

comfortable, and listened and smoked.

later the

moon

lit

up the

crest of the hills

on the
little

far side

of

the Ganges and slowly crept

it

down

into the valley, and a

as
it

later

saw
1

rise over the

top of the

hill

behind me. As soon

was overhead

climbed to the top of the

tree,

but found that the spreading branches

I

impeded

my

view Descending again to the machan,

climbed out on the

I

branches spreading over the road, but from here also

found
I

it

was

not possible to see

down
It

the hillside in the direction in which

thought

the leopard had gone.

was then

3 a.m.,

and two hours

visible

later

the

moon

began to

pale.

When

nearby objects became

in the light
east,
I

of the day that was being born in the

i_

descended from the tree and was greeted

by

a friendly bleat

from the
and

goat.

Beyond the

goat,

at the

very edge of

the road, there was a long low rock, and on

this

rock there was an inch-wide streak

of blood; the leopard that blood

from which

had come could

only have lived a minute or

two, so dispensing

158

Rudraprayag The Man-Eofing Leopard of

usually. taken when following up the blood trail of with the precautions down off the road and, taking up the trail on the I scrambled

carnivores,
far side

of the rock, followed

it

for fifty yards, to

where the leopard was

in

lying dead.

He had

slid

backwards into a hole in the ground,

which he

resting on the edge of the hole. was not lying crouched up, with his chin No marks by which I could identify the dead animal were visible,

even so

never for one

was the man-eater. But

the long night hours
at

moment doubted that the leopard in the hole here was no fiend, who while watching me through
silent fiendish laughter

had rocked and rolled with and licked

my

vain attempts to outwit him,

his lips in anticipation of

the time

when, finding

me

off

my

guard for one brief moment, he would

for of burying his teeth in

get the opportunity he

was waiting

my
his

throat.

Here was only an old leopard, who

that his muzzle

differed

from others of

kind in

was grey and

in
all

his lips lacked whiskers; the best-hated

and

the

most feared animal

India,

whose only crime

laws of nature, but against the laws of

man

was

not against the

that he
in

had shed human

blood, with
live;

no object of

terrorizing

man, but only

order that he might

and

who
I

now, with his chin resting on the rim of the hole and his

eyes half-closed, was peacefully sleeping his long last sleep.

While

stood unloading

my

rifle,

one

bullet

from which had more

I

than cancelled

my

personal score against the sleeper,

at

heard

a cough,

and on looking up saw the pundit peering down

the road.
I

me from

the edge of
hill.

beckoned to him and he came gingerly down the

On

catching sight of the leopard's head he stopped, and asked in a whisper

whether
that
it

it

was dead, and what

evil spirit

it

was.

When
his

told

him

it

was dead, and

and

was the

that

had torn open

his throat five years ago,

for fear of

which he had hurriedly closed

door the previous

night, he

put his hands together and attempted to put his head on

my

feet.

Next

minute there was

It

a call

from the road above

of,

'Sahib,

where

are you?'
I

was one of
call

my men

calling in great agitation,

and when

sent an

answering

echoing over the Ganges, four heads appeared, and catching

sight of us four

men came

helter-skelter

down

the

hill,

one of them

swinging a lighted lantern which he had forgotten to extinguish.

The leopard had got

little

stiff in

the hole and was extracted with

tied to the stout

some

difficulty.

While

it

was being

bamboo

pole the

Shot

in

the Dark

159

men

had brought with them, they told

me

they had been unable to sleep

that night
it

and that

as

soon
lit

as Ibbotson's jemadar's

watch showed them

was 4.30 a.m., they

a length of

the lantern, and arming themselves with a pole

felt

and

rope had come to look for me, for they

that

was

in urgent need of them. Not finding

me

in the

machan and seeing the

goat unhurt, and the streak of blood on the rock, they concluded the

man-eater had killed me, and not knowing what to do they had
desperation called to me.
Leaving the pundit to retrieve
pilgrims

in

my

rug from the machan, and give the

his version of the night's

who were now crowding round happenings, the four men and I, with the
off for the Inspection Bungalow.
little

goat trotting alongside, set

The

goat,

injury owing to
little

my

having fired the

who had escaped with very moment the leopard caught

was to make him a hero
fine brass collar
for
a

him,

knew

that his night's adventure

the rest of his

life,

and that he was to wear a

and be

source of income to the

man from whom

when
I

had purchased him, and

to

whom

gave

him

back.
asleep

Ibbotson was

still

knocked on the glazed

door, and the

to the

moment he
door flung

caught sight of
it

me

he jumped out of bed and dashing

open, embraced me, and next minute was dancing round Shouting for the leopard which the men had deposited on the veranda. dictated and a hot bath for me, he called for his stenographer and
tea,

telegrams to the Government, the press, and

Jean.
I

my

sister,

and a cable

to

Not one question had he

asked, for he

knew

that the leopard which

had brought home

at that early

hour was the man-eater, so what need

was there for questions?

evidence that had been

On

that previous

occasionin

spite of

all

the

maintained that the leopard and on this occasion I had killed in the gin-trap was not the man-eater,

produced I had

said nothing.

since October Ibbotson had carried a heavy responsibility of questions of Councillors previous year, for to him was left the answering Government officials who were anxious to please their constituents, of death-roll, and of a press
tn

of

daily getting

more alarmed

at

the mounting

that

was clamouring for

results.

His position had for

long time been

like that

knowing the identity ot a of the head of a police force who,

160

Th Man-EoHng Leopard of Rudraprayag

noted criminal, was unable to prevent his committing further crimes, and
for this

was being badgered on

all

sides. Little

wonder then
I

that Ibbotson for not

on

that

2nd of May 1926 was the happiest man

had even seen,

only was he

now

able to-

inform

all

concerned that the criminal had

people from the bazaars,
all

been executed, but he was

also able to tell the

villages,

and from the surrounding

and the pilgrims,

the

whom

were
evil

swarming into the compound of the Inspection Bungalow, that the

spirit that

had tormented them for eight long years was

now
sleep,

dead.

After emptying a pot of tea and having a

hot bath

tried to get a

little

but fear

of a repetition of the cramps that twisted

my

feet,

and from which

was only

relieved

by the vigorous ministrations of

Ibbotson, brought

me

out of bed.
I

Then Ibbotson and

measured the leopard,

and carefully examined
it.

The following
results

are

the

of

our

measurements and of
our examination.

MEASUREMENTS
Length, between pegs
Length, over curves 7 feet, 6 inches
7 feet, 10 inches

[Note: these measurements were taken after the leopard had been

dead twelve hours.]

DESCRIPTION
Colour:

Light straw.

Hair:

Short and

brittle.

Whiskers:
Teeth:

None.
discoloured, one canine tooth broken.
Black.

Worn and
One

Tongue and mouth:

Wounds:

fresh bullet-wound in" right shoulder.

Shot in the Dark

161

One

hind foot, and part of one (oe and one claw missing from same foot.
left

old bullet-wound

in

pad of

Several deep and partly-healed cuts

on head.
right hind leg.

One deep and

partly- healed cut

on

Several partly-healed cuts

on

tail.

One
I

partly-healed

wound on

stifle

of

left

hind

leg.

am

unable to account for the leopard's tongue and mouth being

black. It

was suggested that

this

this
I

might have been caused by cyanide,

but whether

was so or not

cannot say

Of the
left

partly-healed wounds,
in his fight at
result tuft

those on the head, right hind

leg,

and

tail

were acquired

Bhainswara, and the one on the

stifle

of his

hind leg was the

of his having been caught in the gin-trap, for the piece of skin and
of hair
left

we found

in the trap fitted into this

wound. The
fired

injuries

on the

hind foot were the result of the bullet

officer in 1921.

on

the bridge by the

later,
I

young army
pellet of

When

skinning the leopard

his chest

found

buckshot embedded in the skin of

which an Indian
it

Christian

years

later-

claimed he had
I

fired at the leopard the year

became

a man-eater.

After Ibbotson and

laid in the

had measured and examined the leopard

it

was

shade of a tree, and throughout the day thousands of men,

children

women, and

came

to see

it.

When
it is

the people of our

.to

hills visit

an individual for any particular

purpose, as for instance

show

thanks, their gratitude or to express their

customary for them not to go on

few

their mission empty-handed.

rose, a marigold, or a

and the gift is petals of either flower, suffices, recipient has touched the proffered in hands cupped together. When the proffering right hand, the person gift with the tips of the fingers of his
the gift on to the recipient's the gift goes through the motion of pouring cupped hands contained water. feet, in the same manner as if his as I witnessed witnessed gratitude, but never I have on other occasions
it

that day at Rudraprayag,

first at

and later at the Inspection Bungalow our house

a reception in the bazaar.

'He

killed

our only son,

sahib,

and we being

old,

. now

desolate.'

62
'He

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag

ate the

mother of my

five

children,
is

and
none

the

youngest
old,

but a few months

is

and there

in'

the

home now

to

care for the children, or to

cook the

food.'

'My son was taken

ill

at night

and no one dared

go to the hospital for medicine, and so he died.'

Tragedy upon
pitiful tragedy,

and while

listened,

the ground around

mv

feet

was

strewn with flowers.

"*^^X?^t

J%^t$

EPILOGUE

THE EVENTS
my
sister

HAVE NARRATED TOOK

later,

place between 1925 and

in

1926. Sixteen years

in 1942,

was doing a war job

Meerut and

and

were invited one day by Colonel Flye

garden party The men, some
fifty

to help entertain

wounded men
and from
a
all

at a

or sixty in number,
just finishing

parts of India,
tea,

were

sitting

round a tennis-court
stage,
I

sumptuous

and getting to the smoking

when we

arrived.

Taking opposite sides of the court,

the circle.

my

sister

and

started to go

round

The men were

all

from the Middle

East, and, after a rest,

were to be

sent to their homes,

some on

leave,

and some on discharge.

had been Music, in the form of a gramophone with Indian records, requested to provided by Mrs Flye, and as my sister and I had been which would be in about two hours' until the party gave over
stay

timewe had ample

I

had got about half-way round

low
chair;

men. time to make our circuit of the wounded the circle when I came to a boy

sitting in a

the ground he had been grievously wounded, and on very painfully slid near his chair were two crutches. At my approach he feet. He was woefully off his chair and attempted to put his head on my picked hospital, and when I had light, for he had spent many months in

164

The

Man -Eating

Leopard of Rudraprayag

him up and made him comfortable

talking with

in his chair,
I

he
I

said:

'I

have been

your lady
were.

sister,
I

and when
a small

told her

was

a Garhwali, she

told

me who you
as

was

boy when you shot the man-eater,

I

and
and
at

our

village is far

from Rudraprayag

was not able

to
I

walk there,

my

father not being strong

was unable to carry me, so

he told

had to

stay

home.

When my
me

father returned
his

me

he had seen the man-

eater,

and that with

own

eyes he had seen the sahib

who had

shot

it.

He
had

also told

of the sweets that had been distributed that day

share of which he had brought back for

seen.

me

and of

his

the great crowds he

And now,
I

sahib,

will

go back to
tell

my home

with great joy in

my
that

heart, for

shall

be able to
be,
if I

my

father that with

have seen you and,

is

may

can get anyone to

my own eyes I carry me to the fair

the death of the
I

held every year at Rudraprayag to

I

commemorate
that

man-eater,

shall tell all

the people

meet there

have seen and

had speech with you.'

A
with

cripple,
a

on the threshold of manhood, returning from the wars

telling

broken body, with no thought of

tell his

of brave deeds done, but

only eager to

father that with his

own

eyes he had seen the

man

who

years ago he had not

only claim to

had the opportunity of seeing, a man whose remembrance was that he had fired one accurate shot.
hill-folk;

typical

son of Garhwal, of that simple and hardy

and of
are

that greater India,

whose sons only those few who

is

live

among them
soil,

privileged to know. It

these big-hearted sons of the

no matter
factions

what

their caste or creed,

who

will

one day weld the contending

a great nation.

into a composite whole,

and make of India

OXFORD INDIA PAPERBACKS

THE MAN-EATING LEOPARD OF RUDRAPRAYAG
Jim Corbett
Jim Corbett's
India. This
tales;
it is

classic stories of man-eaters

is

have made him a legend in

book

perhaps the most exciting of all Corbett's jungle

a gripping narrative of a notorious leopard which spread

terror in the hills

of the colonial United Provinces.

stories, this

As with

his other

man-eater

one too

is

characterized by a
India, This quality,

deep sympathy and concern for the people of rural

combined with Corbett's sharp observations and make this a valued book for all those interested

vivid, detailed style

in

good writing as

well as wildlife and environment conservation.

Tart of the power of Corbett's writing

faithfulness with
his hunts.
.

lies in the... maddening which he recalls and recreates the smallest details of The result is the kind of suspense that a professional

Geoffrey C. Ward & Diane Raines Ward

'The Rudraprayag leopard
shot.
. .

writer... could not easily create.'

in Tiger-wallahs

is

but one of the scores of animals Corbett

.

valued,

What emerges with this image of action is. .a man who perhaps more than anything else, patience, courage and a

spartan hardiness.'

The Independent
.

'Corbett continued to pursue the man-eating leopard. .that had

terrorised the region for years. .despite
.

numerous close-misses. As
. . .

with the best of stories,

this

one ends happily.

.

Corbett was an

exceptionally good writer, clear and lucid.

dinary.'

[His] tales

The Hindu

were

extraor-

Cover photograph: Phal Girota

ISBN _DLS5bEB5h_-l_

OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
\
'

www.oup.com