THE HUNTING LEOPARD 



other when the game preserves are reached. The 

 attendants keep a sharp look-out, and when one of 

 them sights a buck he moves forward, and the other 

 carts are at once pulled up and remain at a stand- 

 still. When the cart gets within about a hundred 

 and fifty yards of the buck, the Chita's hood is 

 raised, and its attention directed to the quarry. 

 The leash is then removed, and the animal, springing 

 lightly to the ground, crouches low and carefully 

 and noiselessly stalks the buck, moving at a slow 

 pace in characteristic cat fashion, until the animal 

 becomes alarmed and gallops off. The cat, whose 

 eyes were never for one instant off its intended 

 victim, seeing it making off, springs forward and 

 races after the quarry, covering the ground in 

 a succession of long, rapid, low bounds, at the 

 speed of something like a mile a minute. Over- 

 taking the buck it grips it by the throat and holds 

 fast bulldog fashion, until the arrival of the Pathan 

 keepers, one of whom opens a large vein in the inner 

 side of the back leg of the victim and fills a wooden 

 ladle with the blood. This ladle of blood is then 

 handed to the other, or chief keeper, who offers it 

 to the Chita, whose grip on the throat of the buck 

 has not relaxed in the sHghtest. The sight and 

 smell of the blood causes the Chita to instantly re- 

 lease its hold, and while it is greedily lapping up 

 the warm blood, the second keeper drags the body 

 of the victim away to a distance, while his colleague 

 slips the hood over the Chita's head when its atten- 



169 



