202 MAMMALIA OF INDIA. 
Its habits in a state of nature, and the mode of capture, are more 
to the purport of this work. It is said by shikarees to feed only 
once every third day, when, after gorging itself, it retires to its 
den for the other two. On the morning of the third day he visits 
some particular tree, which the animals of his species in the neigh- 
bourhood are in the habit of frequenting. Such trees are easily to 
be recognised by the scoring of the bark on which he whets his claws. 
Here, after having relieved himself in various ways and played about 
with such of his comrades as may be there, they go off on a hunting 
expedition. 
There is an interesting letter from “ Deccanee Bear” in Zhe Asian of 
the 22nd of July, 1880, giving a description of the snaring of some of 
these animals, and the remarks he makes about their rendezvous at 
a particular tree, corroborates what has been asserted by other writers. 
He says: ‘ Arrived at the spot the bullocks were soon relieved of their 
burden, and then work commenced. ‘The nooses were of the same 
kind as those used for snaring antelope, made from the dried sinews of 
the antelope. These were pegged down in all directions, and at all 
angles, to a distance of 25 to 30 feet from the tree. The carts and 
bullocks were sent off into a road about a mile away. An ambush was 
made of bushes and branches some fifty or sixty yards away, and here, 
when the time came, I and three Vardis ensconced ourselves. I have 
sat near some dirty fellows in my life, but the stench of those three men 
baffles description ; you could cut it with a knife. I could not smoke, 
so had to put up with the several smells until I was nearly sick. At last 
the sun commenced to sink, and the men who were looking round in 
all directions, suddenly pointed in the direction of the north. Sure 
enough there were four cheetahs skying away and playing together 
about 400 yards off; they came closer and closer, when they stopped 
about 100 yards off, looking about as if they suspected danger. How- 
ever, they became reassured, and all raced away as hard as they could 
in the direction of the tree. Two were large and the other two smaller ; 
the larger had the best of the race, and were entangled by all four feet 
before they knew where they were. The Vardis made°a rush. I did 
the same, but in a second was flat on the ground, having caught my 
feet in the nooses. One of the men came and released me from my 
undignified position, and I could then see how the cheetahs were 
secured. A country blanket was thrown over the heads of the animal, 
and the two fore or hind legs tied together. The carts had come up 
by this time ; a leather hood was substituted for the blanket—a rather 
ticklish operation, during which one man was badly bitten in the hand. 
The cheetahs know how to use their teeth and claws. Having been 
securely fastened on the carts, and the nooses collected, we started for 
camp, which we reached about eight in he evening. I was much pleased 
