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lived with mountains for any length of time, you belong to them, and must return again and again.

Nearly every morning, and sometimes during the day, I heard the cry of the barking deer. And in the
evening, walking through the forest, I disturbed parties of pheasant. The birds went gliding down
the ravine on open, motionless wings. I saw pine martens and a handsome red fox, and I recognised
the footprints of a bear.

As I had not come to take anything from the forest, the birds and animals soon grew accustomed
to my presence; or possibly they recognised my footsteps. After some time, my approach did not
disturb them.

The langurs in the oak and rhododendron trees, who would at first go leaping through the branches
at my approach, now watched me with some curiosity as they munched the tender green shoots of
the oak.

The young ones scuffled and wrestled like boys, while their parents groomed each other’s coats,
stretching themselves out on the sunlit hillside. But one evening, as I passed, I heard them chattering
in the trees, and I knew I was not the cause of their excitement.

As I crossed the stream and began climbing the hill, the grunting and chattering increased, as though
the langurs were trying to warn me of some hidden danger. A shower of pebbles came rattling down
the steep hillside, and I looked up to see a sinewy, orange-gold
leopard poised on a rock about twenty feet above me.

It was not looking towards me, but had its head thrust
attentively forward, in the direction of the ravine. Yet
it must have sensed my presence, because it slowly

turned its head and looked down at me.
It seemed a little puzzled at my presence there;
and when, to give myself courage, I clapped my
hands sharply, the leopard sprang away into the
thickets, making absolutely no sound as it

melted into the shadows.
I had disturbed the animal in

its quest for food. But a little
after I heard the quickening
cry of a barking deer as it fled
through the forest. The hunt
was still on.

The leopard, like other
members of the cat family,
is nearing extinction in India,
and I was surprised to find one
so close to Mussoorie. Probably

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