21G 



" morniiig after arrival, while prowling about the low jungle, in the 

 " undulating ground on the border of the large forest, I saw on the 

 " opposite rise, a fine (as we always called them in those days) 

 " cheetah ; he was soon out of sight in the brush-wood, but the 

 " village head-man who was with me, consoled me by saying, " We 

 " should be sure to get him." I did not see hoiv, but not to display 

 " ignorance, avoided questioning. I had some success with deer 

 " in the evening, and the next morning, on preparing to sally forth, 

 " my village friend of the day before appeared, and with much 

 " apparent respect, asked whether I wished to see the cheetah of 

 " the previous morning ? Of course I said, in hot haste, "lead on!" 

 " whereupon my guide replied " We have him ; for two years have 

 " we had a trap set to catch the thief, and we could not succeed ; 

 " but our good fortune sent you here, and behold ! in fear of your 

 " presence, the cheetah has entered the trap, and is safe. We shall 

 " get a reward from the Dewan, who has been threatening us if we 

 " do not send a live cheetah to the Huzzoor for the approaching 

 " tamasha." Very flattering, no doubt, but very disappointing ; 

 li however, making the best of it, we went to the spot, and there 

 " indeed was as fine a leopard as I ever saw. The trap was well 

 " made and strong, on the plan of the bait being apparently inside 

 " the cage, though it is actually railed off, and as the leopard rushes 

 " in at the one open end, the action of the door falling and closing 

 " behind him, lifts a corresponding door at the opposite end, giving 

 " the bait a calf or a goat the opportunity of bolting away, which 

 " they seldom fail to take advantage of. This description of live 

 " trap is now a-days in general use ; formerly a trap on the figure- 

 " of-4 principle, with heavy weights of stone piled on the board 

 " above was often used, smashing the animal it caught as flat as a 

 " pancake. It was in Travancore too that I reached a solitary kind 

 " of farmstead in the then partially-cleared jungles in the valley 

 " opposite Nagercoil, some fifteen miles or so towards the head of 

 " the valley. We found the proprietors in some distress, and when 

 " we came to enquire into particulars, found that a few nights 

 " before, a leopard had sprung over and into the cattle-pen, had 

 " killed some five or six cows, and then found himself trapped, for 

 " after several attempts he failed to get out. It was perhaps, that 

 " he then took his revenge by killing the other cows, but this fully 



