THE HUNTING-LEOPARD. £05 



chase by one who has enjoyed the sport, will give the best idea 

 of the manner in which it is conducted. 



"'Just before we reached our ground, the camel-courier, 

 who always moved on our flanks in search of game, reported a 

 herd of Antelopes about half a mile out of the line of march, 

 and the Chitas being at hand, we went in pursuit of them. The 

 Leopards are each accommodated with a flat-topped cart, with- 

 out sides, drawn by two bullocks, and each animal has two 

 attendants. They are loosely bound by a collar and rope to 

 the back of the vehicle, and are also held by the keeper by a 

 strap round the loins. A leathern hood covers the eyes. The 

 Antelopes being exceedingly timid and wild, the best way to 

 enjoy the sport is to sit on the cart alongside the driver ; for 

 the vehicle being built like the carts of the peasants, to the 

 sight of which the Antelopes are accustomed, it is not difficult, 

 by careful management, to approach within two hundred yards 

 of the game. On the occasion in question there were three 

 Chitas in the field, and we proceeded towards the spot where 

 the herd had been seen, in a line, with an interval of a hundred 

 yards between each cart. On emerging from a cotton-field, 

 we came in sight of four Antelopes, and my driver managed to 

 get within a hundred yards of them, ere they took alarm. The 

 Chita was quickly unhooded and loosed from his bonds ; and 

 as soon as he viewed the game, he dropped quietly off the cart, 

 on the opposite side to that on which they stood, and approached 

 them at a slow crouching canter, masking himself by every bush 

 and inequality which lay in his way. As soon, however, as 

 they began to show alarm, he quickened his pace, and was in 

 the midst of them in a few bounds. He singled out a doe, 

 and ran it close for about two hundred yards, when he reached 

 it with a blow of his paw, rolled it over, and in an instant was 

 sucking the life's-blood from its throat. One of the other 

 Chitas was slipped at the same time, but after making four or 



