Hunting EJldbli/ljmcnt o/Tlppoo Sultaun. 17$ 



when hoodwinked, is perfc&ly manageable. The fpeelators 

 keep at a proper distance till the huntfman has covered the 

 eyes of the cheta, but they may always choofe their ground 

 in luch a maniuir as to fee the whole of the hunt. 



A cheta will run two or three times in a day, and often 

 is fuccefsful in every ehace. He always felec-is the large 11 

 buck of the herd, though it fliould not he in fo favourable 

 a portion for his purnpfe as many other fmaller deer. In 

 large herds, two or lour che.las are let out, and then the fport 

 is highly divcrlhied and interesting. 



After hunting until len or eleven o'clock, the fultaun re- 

 tired with the party to the next bunoalow, where he palled 

 the remainder of the day, and in the evening returned to his 

 palace in Seringapatam. 



A Dtfcripiion of the Cheta*. 



The cheta is the animal mentioned by Tavernier, Bernier, 

 and other eaftern travellers, under the name of the hunllvg 

 leopard. It differs, however, from the leopard properlv (u 

 called, in the following particulars : 



Firft, in fhape. — It is of a long make, narrow deep chert, 

 and (lender waift. Its legs alfo are very long in proportion 

 to the body; in which particular, as well as in its general 

 form, it bears a greater rcfemblance to the gte-hound than 

 to its cogeners of the feline tribe. 



2dly, The fize of the cheta's head is fmaller in proportion 

 to its body than that of the leopard, or of mod other qua- 

 drupeds.. The colour of the iris is of a deeper yellow than 

 in the leopard, and its face is difiinguifhed by a dark line 

 reaching from the corner of the eve to that of the mouth on 

 each fide. 



3dly, The hair on the throat, breaft, bellv, and the under 

 fide of the tail, is much longer than on the other parts of the' 

 body; it is of a duiky white colour, with few or ifo fpots. 

 The hair on the upper part of the neck, and on the fhoukk •: >•, 

 is alfo fomewhat longer than on the bodv, though not fu rri- 

 ciently fo to entitle the cheta to the fpeeifi-c name of 1 v/^ 

 Zuhata, which Limueus has given it. 



4thly, 1 ne fpots on the cheta, inliead of being difpofed 

 in circles like thofe of the leopard and panther, are each 

 diftin£t. The body and limbs, excepting where the long 

 hair extends, are thickly covered with thei'e fpots, varying in 

 ftze, of a dark colour, and a round or oval fhape, on a light 



* This defcription was written by J. Fleming, Efq. of the Bengal Me- 

 dical Eftablifhment > and the other parts of the memorandum, by Caj-t. 

 Sydenham. 



tawnv 



