e highest degree of boldness and
fury; but it was noticed that in these conflicts the leopards were far
more active and spiteful than their kinsmen. In observing them through
his glass Lucien noticed that they frequently seized each other by the
tails, and he further noticed that several of them had their tails much
shorter than the rest. Norman said that these had been bitten off in
their battles; and, moreover, that it was a rare thing to find among the
males, or "bucks," as he called them, one that had a perfect tail!

While these observations were being made, the attention of our party was
attracted to a strange animal that was seen slowly crawling around the
hill. It was a creature about as big as an ordinary setter dog, but
much thicker in the body, shorter in the legs, and shaggier in the coat.
Its head was flat, and its ears short and rounded. Its hair was long,
rough, and of a mottled hoary grey colour, but dark-brown upon the legs
and tail. The latter, though covered with long hair, was short, and
carried upright; and upon the broad feet of the animal could be seen
long and strong curving claws. Its snout was sharp as that of a
greyhound--though not so prettily formed--and a white stripe, passing
from its very tip over the crown, and bordered by two darker bands, gave
a singular expression to the animal's countenance. It was altogether,
both in form and feature, a strange and vicious-looking creature.
Norman recognised it at once as the "blaireau," or American badger. The
others had never seen such a creature before--as it is not an inhabitant
of the South, nor of any part of the settled portion of the United
States, for the animal there sometimes called a badger is the
ground-hog, or Maryland marmot (_Arctomys monax_). Indeed, it was for a
long time believed that no true badger inhabited the Continent of
America. Now, however, it is known that such exists, although it is of
a species distinct from the badger of Europe. It is less in size than
the latter, and its fur is longer, finer, and lighter in colour; but it
is also more voracious in its habits, preying constantly upon mice,
marmots, and other small animals, and feeding upon carcasses, whenever
it chances to meet with such. It is an inhabitant of the sandy and
barren districts, where it burrows the earth in such a manner that
horses frequently sink and snap their legs in the hollow ground made by
it. These are not always the holes scraped out