ON SAFARI IN SOTIK WILDERNESS AND LAKE NAIF ASH A 419 



His son Kermit was still more successful, his unerring rifle bringing 

 down a very large tawny-maned lion, the largest of this variety 

 obtained by the expedition. In addition his well aimed bullets reached 

 two cheetahs. 



The cheetah is the animal described on page 233 as the hunting 

 leopard. It is of about the size of the leopard but is much less fierce. 

 While wild in Africa, it has long been domesticated in Persia and 

 India, packs of cheetahs being kept by Indian princes for the purpose 

 of hunting deer and antelopes. In the domestic state it resembles the 

 dog in being very fond of attention and repaying kindness with affec- 

 tion. When used in the hunting field the head of the cheetah is kept 

 covered with a leather hood until it comes within two hundred yards 

 of the game. When the hood is removed and the animal permitted 

 to see the game, it creeps stealthily towards its prey, taking advan- 

 tage of every bush or inequality in the ground. This goes on until the 

 animals stalked show signs of alarm, when the alert creature is among 

 them with a few bounds, strikes down its victim with a blow of its 

 paw, and instantly tears open the throat and begins to suck the blood 

 of the fallen deer or antelope. If unsuccessful it does not follow the 

 herd by running, but comes creeping back to the hunters as if ashamed. 

 In fact, it seems incapable of a burst of sustained speed and depends 

 solely on a lurking approach and a sudden dash. 



There succeeded an adventure in which Colonel Rooosevelt ran 

 one of the greatest risks in his hunting career, one of those ever- 

 present perils to which the hunter in Africa is at all times exposed. 

 On one of his hunting trips a large black-maned lion had been put up 

 and had taken refuge, as is its wont, in a small clump of bushes. 

 Roosevelt followed it with his usual daring enthusiasm, while the 

 beaters sought to drive the lurking beast from its lair. 



Suddenly the infuriated creature, with a growl of rage, broke from 

 the bush, its head erect, its tail waving. The hunter stood before it, 

 not many paces away. Roaring defiance the great maned cat sprang 

 forward, charging upon him with the speed of a catapult. It was a 

 moment of deadly peril for the ex-President, one in which only his cool 

 courage and skill as a marksman saved him from probable death. 

 Rifle at shoulder, with quick but steady aim he let drive at the charging 



