CHAPTER VII

THE NJEGO, OR LEOPARD

The njego, or leopard, is the most dreaded of all the night prowlers by all the animals of the great forest.

One night a njego, looking at his beautiful spotted skin, his long tail beating his flanks, exclaimed to himself: “Many creatures of the great forest hate and fear me, for I love blood. I thrive and live chiefly on kambis [antelopes] and ncheris [gazelles]. I have no friends. All think I am not to be trusted.

“I am the biggest of the night prowlers. I have to be cunning in seeking my prey. No large creature can walk in the forest and through the underbrush with a lighter step than mine, and if I make a slight rustling going through the thicket of the jungle, the beasts of the forest think the wind is the cause of it.

“I can also see in the daytime, but the light makes me wink. I can spring farther than any animal. This is one of the gifts I possess, otherwise I could not get my living. How I love the flesh of the kambis and of the ncheris!” As he thought of them his eyes glittered and shone like fire, and he licked his chops.

“When animals see me close to them, my eyes often paralyze them, and they cannot run away.” Then he grinned as njegos do, and added, “No wonder that the animals of the forest dread the njego, for often he makes a prodigious leap, falling in the midst of them when they are not aware of his presence, and then he gloats over the victim he has chosen.”

Suddenly the njego heard the trumpeting of a njokoo (elephant), and the terrible and appalling roar of a ngina (gorilla), and he listened a while, and said, “These creatures I do not attack.”

Soon after he met his mate near their lair, and they went inside, for the day was coming, and they were soon asleep. The njegos have a peculiar, silent way of communicating with each other by looks, movements of the tail, and other signs only known to them. So in this way after they had slept all day long and well into the next night the big njego said to his mate as they were lying in their lair: “Dear, the night is far advanced; it is time for us to go out in search of prey, and the day animals will be in their heaviest sleep and will not hear or scent us.”

It was then about midnight. After coming out of their lair, they rejoiced when they saw that the night was so dark. They said to each other, “How well we shall see to-night!” Then they looked at each other with great affection, the big njego licking the skin of his mate to show her how much he loved her.

They said good-by to each other, for njegos, like all night prowlers, as already said, go in search of prey by themselves, and they wished each other good luck. “I hope, dear,” said the big njego to his mate, “that you will find a kambi [antelope] to-night.” “I hope so,” she replied, “and I wish you the same.”

After this they parted, each going his own way, walking as noiselessly as still air, their lithe bodies passing through the jungle with a suppleness that was wonderful. The glow of their eyes was sometimes such that they looked like two bright burning pieces of charcoal.

[Illustration: [Leopards]]

The big njego, as he walked along, would stop now and then to scent better or to hear if some prey was moving in the forest. But in spite of all his cunning, power of scent, and good sight, he had bad luck, and did not get any prey. Toward four o’clock in the morning, the two njegos thought it was about time to return home.

When the big njego came to his lair, his mate had not yet arrived, and he waited for her outside. Soon after, he scented her, and then he paced to and fro, his long tail beating his flanks, and his eyes glaring like fire from excitement and pleasure at the prospect of her coming.

Soon she made her appearance, and he received her with great delight. He looked at her and said: “I see by your hollow flanks, dear, that you have had nothing to eat to-night.”

“You are right,” she replied, “my stomach is empty; I am starving.”

Then, looking at him, she said: “I see also by your flanks that you did not kill anything to-night. You have had no flesh to eat, no blood to drink.”

“You are right,” he replied. “I also am starving. Well, we have to work hard for our living. It is not every day that we get prey.” They spoke of the animals they had met that night. “I saw a herd of njokoos,” said the big njego. “I thought it was wiser to let them alone. I might have sprung upon one and made fast to his trunk and lain between his tusks, but he would have run through the forest and dashed his head against the trunk of a tree and killed me.

“A little after, I scented a kambi; but the creature scented me also, and, though I followed her with all the cunning I possess, she succeeded in crossing and swimming to the other side of a large stream. I had to give up the pursuit, for unfortunately we njegos are afraid of crossing rivers, as we do not swim.”

They entered their lair. Then they went to sleep; but they were restless, for they were hungry. Every time they awoke, each said, “I wish night would come.” It came at last. They awoke, gave several yawns, and opened their mouths, showing their strong, sharp teeth. Their terrible retractile claws like those of a cat moved as if ready to sink deeply into the body of some animal. “If I catch a kambi to-night, what a feast I shall have!” thought each njego at the same time; and at the thought of blood both licked their chops with their prickly tongues.

[Illustration: [Leopard]]

They left their lair and parted, as was their custom both prowling in the dark, gloomy, and silent forest, for all the birds were asleep as well as the day animals.

Afar off there were two kambis together, when suddenly one said to the other: “We are in danger. I scent a njego. Let us flee, for the wicked creature is coming our way. Let us hasten. Yes, the scent is becoming stronger and stronger every moment.” They fled in the opposite direction from the scent, and after a long run came to a large river and swam across. Then they felt safe, as the broad stream was between them and the njego; for kambis know that the njegos never swim across a river.

After a while the njego scented the two kambis. He followed the scent until he came to the place where they had lain down. Here it was quite strong. He thought they were very near, and crouched on the ground, his belly touching it. Never had he been more wary, though he was intensely excited at the prospect of a good meal, and his eyes glistened as if they were fires.

Slowly he advanced, but his sharp eyes saw no kambis. He followed the scent, walking with great rapidity, and was gaining upon them very fast. At last the scent grew very strong, and he made sure he was to have a meal. Soon he came to a river where he saw their footprints on the bank. He gave a fearful growl of disappointment and rage when he found the water of the wide stream between him and his prey. He knew they were beyond his reach. Then he walked along the banks of the river, trying to find a place where two trees opposite each other had branches spreading far over the river, so that after climbing he could make a prodigious bound from one to the other, and thus span the chasm that separated him from the two kambis.

As he was looking for such a place, he said to himself: “I will make the greatest leap I ever made, for I must kill one of those kambis. I am so hungry. I have had no food for three days. How hard I have to work for my living!”

At last he saw two such trees, and grinned with joy. He rose on his hind legs and imbedded his terrible claws in the bark, and ascended one of the trees just like a cat. When he reached its longest transverse thick branch, he walked over it, and looked across to the other side. But, to his disappointment and dismay, he saw that the gap between the trees was so great that he could not leap over the chasm.

He looked down with dread at the swift deep water of the stream under him, and exclaimed: “I can never leap over this big gap, for if I try I shall surely fall into the stream. I have a horror of falling into the water. This has never happened to me in my life.” But before coming down from the tree he uttered another growl of rage, when he saw that he could not follow the kambis. His roar was so loud that he awoke the day creatures that were asleep in the neighborhood, and they fled in every direction.

The njego had travelled a very long way from his lair, pursuing the kambis, and it was time for him to go back to meet his mate. As he walked, he was very despondent and said: “Again another day without a meal. But luck may come before I reach my lair. It often happens that at the last moment I find prey.”

True enough, as he was going along he suddenly scented a kambi. His eyes once more flashed fire. He hurried on. Nearer and nearer he came toward his prey, who was nipping leaves, unaware that her life was in such danger, for the night breeze was blowing from her direction in that of the njego, so that she could not scent him.

At last the njego, as sly as a snake, came within sight of the kambi. At that moment the kambi for the first time scented danger and fled in terror, for it was the scent of the njego, her most dreaded enemy. The njego, seeing his prey running away, made a tremendous bound. He missed, and the kambi fled as fast as her legs could carry her; but he made spring after spring, and each leap brought him nearer and nearer his quarry. He gave growls of rage every time he missed his prey, fearing that it would escape him.

[Illustration: [Leopard]]

The poor kambi was so terrified that she ran in a wild, erratic way, and became paralyzed with fear. At last the njego, with a prodigious bound, landed on her neck. His teeth were immediately imbedded in the flesh of the panting creature, and his claws sank deep into her body. The struggle was soon over. The njego made a great feast on the warm body of his victim.

While eating, the njego was silent for fear of attracting other njegos toward his prey. It was terrible to see his glaring, treacherous-looking eyes while he was feasting. If another njego had come near, he would have been attacked with great fierceness. After eating until he could eat no more, he continued his way toward his lair, too surfeited to attack another kambi, even if he had met one on his way.

His mate was waiting for him before their lair. After he arrived, she looked at him, and said: “Dear, I see blood around your mouth and on your paws. This is the blood of a kambi. Your flanks are also so swollen that your stomach must be filled with flesh.”

“Yes,” he replied, “I have been lucky. I came upon a kambi; you are right.”

“I have also been fortunate,” she said. “I had a ncheri for my meal, but, as you know, a ncheri is small compared with a kambi. So I had only a good meal and nothing to spare. But I am thankful for this, for I am not hungry any more.”

The two njegos were soon fast asleep, and did not wake during the day.

After the njego had left the remains of the kambi, a pack of hyenas came just in time, before the ants arrived to eat the rest, and they feasted on what the leopard had left of the kambi.