330 THE CHEETA OR HUNTING-LEOPARD. 



standing corn, from which he will charge several times and bite and claw 

 half-a-dozen people before he is despatched or makes his escape, is no un- 

 common occurrence in India. At night panthers and leopards frequently 

 find their way into goat-folds or calf-pens, climbing over walls or the roofs 

 of native huts in their burglarious inroads, and carrying off their prey with 

 great boldness and agility. They appear to have a peculiar penchant for 

 dogs ; and I have known many villages in parts of Mysore where panthers 

 and leopards were numerous, in which not a dog was to be found, or per- 

 chance but one or two, which would be pointed out by their owners as 

 " very lucky " ones, they having escaped, sometimes from the very clutches 

 of their unceasing foe, whilst their companions had successively fallen 

 victims to his stealthy attacks. 



I have never known a case of a panther or leopard taking to man-eating 

 in Mysore, though many such instances are recorded from other parts of 

 India. Further information regarding the habits and disposition of these 

 animals will be gleaned from a perusal of the next chapter, which I propose 

 to devote to recitals of adventures in hunting panthers and leopards. 



The cheeta or hunting - leopard is, as I have already shown in the 

 game-list of Mysore (Chapter III.), almost unknown in the province. During 

 thirteen years I have only seen two skins, both shot by native shik dries. 

 I have never seen the animal in its wild state myself. I shall therefore 

 only give a short description of it, which I transcribe from Dr Jerdon's 

 Mammals, and from an article that appeared in The Field of September 7, 

 1867, on the Fclidon of India, from the competent pen of Major-General 

 H. Shakspear. 



Dr Jerdon's description is : " Bright rufous fawn with numerous black 

 spots, not in rosettes ; a black streak from the corner of each eye down the 

 face ; tail with black spots and the tip black ; ears short and round ; tail 

 long, much compressed towards the end ; hair of belly long and shaggy, and 

 with a considerable mane ; pupils circular ; points of the claws always 

 visible ; the figure slender, small in the loins like a greyhound ; limbs long. 

 Length, head and body, about 4h feet; tail, 2| ; height, 2\ to 2f feet. 



" The hunting-leopard is found throughout Central and part of Southern 

 India, and in the north-west from Khandesh, through Sind and Eajputana 

 to the Punjaub." 



Major-General Shakspear says : " The cheeta or hunting-leopard has the 

 foot and toe-nail of the dog, without any more retractile power, and is there- 

 fore canine. Though his height is equal to the panther's, he does not weigh 

 much more than half as much as that animal. He is as truly made for 

 speed as the greyhound — indeed he must be for a short distance much 



