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The Leopard
The Leopard

Warm-Up
Warm-Up
The author’s vivid description of the flora and fauna of Mussoorie is a reflection of the rich
and diverse wildlife that thrives in the forests of India. It also indicates how because of man’s
inexhaustible greed, some species of animals are going extinct. The focus of the story is how
the existence of leopard is being threatened due to deforestation, poaching, and loss of
habitat.

I first saw the leopard when I was crossing the small stream at the bottom of
the hill.

The ravine was so deep that for most of the day it remained in shadow.
This encouraged many birds and animals to emerge from cover during
daylight hours. Few people ever passed that way: only milkmen and
charcoal-burners from the surrounding villages.

As a result, the ravine had become a little heaven of wildlife, one
of the few natural sanctuaries left near Mussoorie, a hill station
in northern India.

Below my cottage was a forest of oak and maple and Himalayan
rhododendron. A narrow path twisted its way down through the
trees, over an open ridge where red sorrel grew wild, and then
steeply down through a tangle of wild raspberries, creeping vines,
and slender bamboo.

At the bottom of the hill, the path led on to a grassy verge, surrounded by wild dog roses. (It is
surprising how closely the flora of the lower Himalayas, between 5,000 to 8,000 feet, resembles that
of the English countryside.)

The stream ran close by the verge, tumbling, over smooth pebbles, over rocks worn yellow with age,
on its way to the plains and to the little song river, and finally to the sacred Ganges.
When I first discovered the stream, it was early April and the wild roses were flowering—small white

blossoms lying in clusters.
I walked down to the stream almost every day, after two or three hours of writing. I had lived in cities
too long, and had returned to the hills to renew myself, both physically and mentally. Once you have

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