on the
throat may not suffocate it completely; then the leopard uses another
method. He keeps his grip on the throat of the prey, and _pulls
downward_ with his full weight. The prey tries to rear up on its hind
legs to throw off the leopard--but then the leopard pulls downward with
a sudden jerk. This breaks either the animal's spine or its neck, and it
falls to the ground.

The leopard seizes his prey by the throat when it is a swift-footed
animal, like the deer. But when it is a slow-footed animal, like cattle,
the leopard uses another method--at least on some occasions. He rushes
to the prey from the side or the back, and kills it by a blow of his paw
on the neck from above--as a tiger does. If one blow only stuns the
prey, and it falls, the leopard just starts _eating_ the throat, which
of course kills the prey.

_The Leopard's One Amiable Quality--He Loves Perfumes_

The leopard is said to have at least one amiable quality. It is said
that he is so fond of beautiful perfumes that he can be tamed with them!
That is, if you use some beautiful perfume which the leopard likes, you
can tame him with it for a time. But I cannot tell you whether that is
_always_ true.

There are many things said about animals that are not always true, for
instance, that every animal can be charmed with music--if only we use
the particular kind of music which that particular animal likes. No
doubt, particular kinds of animal _have_ been charmed in that way for
thousands of years; and even the most terrible kind of snake, called the
cobra, is regularly charmed in India with a flute.

You must have read of these serpent-charmers in storybooks, as they
charm even _wild_ cobras in that way. So it is quite true that several
kinds of animals can be charmed with particular kinds of _soft_ music,
such as the music of the flute and the violin. I shall tell you all
about that in my next book.

But about taming leopards with perfumes--we are not sure that _all_ wild
leopards can be tamed with beautiful perfumes. It is at least true that
_some_ wild leopards have been tamed in that way. I shall now tell you a
true story, to show you how that once happened.

_The Leopard and the Lavender_

Once a wild leopard had been caught in a trap in the jungle. He was put
into a cage and carried overland to a seaport. There the leopard in his
cage was put on a ship to be taken to England. The cage was placed on
the deck of the ship.

The leopard wa