HUNTING WITH THE CHETAH. 2A 
Tn order to obtain this end, the Chetah watches for a herd of deer or antelopes, or is 
content to address himself to the pursuit of a solitary individual, or a little band of two 
or three, should they be placed in a position favourable for his purpose, Crouching upon 
the ground so as to ‘conceal himself as much as possible from the watchful eyes of the 
intended prey, the Chetah steals rapidly and silently upon them, never venturing to show 
himself until he is within reach of a single spring. Having singled out one individual 
from the herd, the Chetah leaps upon the devoted animal and dashes it to the ground. 
Fastening his strong grip in the throat of the dying animal, the Chetah laps the hot 
blood, and for the time seems forgetful of time or place. 
Of these curious habits, the restless and all-adapting mind of man has taken advantage, 
and has diverted to his own service the wild destructive properties of the Chetah. In fact, 
man has established a kind of quadrupedal falconry, the Chetah taking the place of the 
hawk, and the chase being one of earth and not of air. The Asiatics have brought this 
curious chase to great pe rfection, and are able to train Chetahs for this purpose in a 
wonderfully perfect manner. 
When a Chetah is taken out for the purpose of hunting game, he is hooded and placed 
in a light native car, in company with his keepers. When they perceive a herd of deer, 
or other desirable game, the keepers turn the Chetah’s head in the proper direction, and 
remove the hood from his eyes. The sharp-sighted animal generally perceives the prey at 
once, but if he fails so to do the keepers assist him by quiet gestures. 
No sooner does the Chetah fairly perceive the deer than his bands are loosened, and he 
gently slips from the car, Employing all his innate artifices, the quadrupedal hunter 
approaches the game, and with one powerful leap flings himself upon the animal which he 
has selected. The keepers now hurry up, and take his attention from the slaughtered 
animal by offering him a ladleful of its blood, or by placing before him some food of which 
he is especially fond, such as the head and neck of a fowl The hood is then slipped over 
his head, and the blinded animal is conducted patient and unresisting to the car, where he 
is secured until another victim may be discovered. 
It is a very curious fact, that although the Chetah is found in Africa as well as in 
Asia, it has not been subjected to the dominion of man by the African races, but is 
suffered to roam at large, unfettered and unblinded. 
The natural disposition of this pretty creature seems to be gentle and placid, and it 
is peculiarly susceptible of domestication. It has been so completely trained as to be 
permitted to wander where it chooses lke a domestic dog or cat, and is quite as familiar 
as that animal. Even in a state of semi-domestication it is sufficiently gentle. One 
sleek and well-conditioned specimen with which I made acquaintance behaved in a very 
friendly manner, permitting me to pat its soft sides, or stroke its face, and uttering short 
self-sufficient sounds, like the magnified purr of a gratified cat. U nfortunately, the 
acquaintance was rudely broken up Be an ill-conditioned Frenchman, who came to the 
front of the cage, and with his stick dealt the poor animal a severe thrust in the side. 
The Chetah instantly lost its confident expression, and was so irritated by this rough 
treatment that it would not permit a repetition of the former caresses. 
Certainly these caged animals have a wondrous perception of the intentions of those 
who visit them. I heard one curious instance of forbearance on the pat of a caged 
tiger. 
A little girl, about five or six years of age, was taken to see the lions and tigers in a 
travelling menagerie. They presented to her mind the idea that they were simply very 
large cats, only differing in size from her fayourite cat at home. So she crept close to 
the cage, and getting on a stone, in order to lift her small person to a proper elevation, 
fearlessly thrust her arm through the bars, and began to stroke the nose of the tiger. 
The spectators, seeing the child thus engaged, very unwisely set up a general scream, 
which had the effect of startling the tiger, and of making it so suspicious, that a second 
attempt to stroke it now would have probably resulted in the loss of the arm. 
The fur of the Chetah is rather rough, and is by no means so smooth as that of the 
African or Asiatic leopard. Its colour is very similar to that of the leopard, but the 
ground colour of the fur is of a deeper fawn. The spots which so profusely stud the 
