450 THE CARNIVORES 



On the particular occasion described, there were plenty of black buck, and "we 

 were not long," continues Sir Samuel Baker, "in finding a herd, in which were 

 several good old buck, as black as night. Nothing could be more favorable than 

 the character of the ground for the natural habits of the chita. The surface was 

 quite flat and firm, being a succession of glades, more or less open, surrounded by 

 scattered bush. A chita was now taken from its cage, and it at once leaped to the 

 top, and sat with its master, who had released it from the hood. After an advance 

 of about two hundred yards, the wheels making no noise upon the level surface, we 

 espied the herd of about twenty antelopes, and the cart at once halted until they 

 had slowly moved from view. Again the cart moved forward for seventy or eighty 

 paces, and two bucks were seen trotting away to the left, as if they had caught a 

 glimpse of the approaching cart. In an instant the chita was loosed. For a 

 moment it hesitated, and then bounded forward, although the two bucks had dis- 

 appeared. We now observed that the chita not only slackened its pace, but it crept 

 cautiously forward, as though looking for the lost game. We followed quietly upon 

 horseback, and in a few seconds we saw the two bucks about a hundred and twenty 

 yards distant standing with their attention fixed upon us. At the same instant the 

 chita dashed forward with an extraordinary rush.- The two bucks, at the sight of 

 their dreaded enemy, bounded away at their usual speed, with the chita following, 

 until all the animals were lost to view in the scattered bushes. We galloped forward 

 in the direction they had taken, and in less than three hundred yards arrived at the 

 spot where the chita had pinned the buck. This was lying upon its back without a 

 struggle, while the firm jaws of its pursuer griped it by the throat. The chita did 

 not attempt to shake or tear the prey, but simply retained its hold, thus strangling 

 the victim, which had ceased all resistance. 



" The keeper now arranged the hood upon the chita's head, thus masking the 

 eyes, which were gleaming with wild excitement, but it in no way relaxed its grip. 

 Taking a strong cord the keeper now passed it several times around the neck of the 

 buck, while it was still held in the jaws of the chita, and, drawing the cord tight, 

 he carefully cut the throat close to the jaws of the tenacious animal. As the blood 

 spurted from the wound it was caught in a large but shallow wooden bowl or ladle, 

 furnished with a handle. When this was nearly full, the mask was taken off the 

 chita, and, upon seeing the spoon full of blood it relaxed its grasp, and immediately 

 began to lap the blood from the well-known ladle. When the meal was finished, 

 the mask or hood was replaced, and the chita was once more confined within its 

 cage, as it would not run again during that day." 



Another account written many years ago by the late Mr. G. T. Vigne, may 

 be quoted, as somewhat amplifying the preceding one in certain points. The 

 hunting-leopard, as soon as slipped from the cart, "walks toward the antelope 

 with his tail straightened and slightly raised, the hackle on his shoulders erect, his 

 head depressed, and his eyes intently fixed upon the poor animal, who does not yet 

 perceive him. As the antelope moves he does the same, first trotting, then canter- 

 ing after him; and when the prey starts off, the chita makes a rush, to which the 

 speed of a race horse is for the moment much inferior. The chitas that bound or 

 spring upon their prey are not much esteemed, as they are too cunning ; the good 



