124 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



the lead went on, entering the neck and breaking the atlas 

 vertebra. 



At Juja Farm many animals were kept in cages. They 

 included a fairly friendly leopard, and five lions, two of 

 which were anything but friendly. There were three 

 cheetahs, nearly full-grown; these were continually taken 

 out on leashes, Mrs. McMillan strolling about with them 

 and leading them to the summer-house. They were good- 

 tempered, but they did not lead well. Cheetahs are in- 

 teresting beasts; they are aberrant cats, standing very 

 high on their legs, and with non-retractile claws like a dog. 

 They are nearly the size of a leopard, but are not ordi- 

 narily anything like as ferocious, and prey on the smaller 

 antelope, occasionally taking something as big as a half- 

 grown kongoni. For a short run, up to say a quarter of a 

 mile or even perhaps half a mile, they are the swiftest an- 

 imals on earth, and with a good start easily overtake the 

 fastest antelope; but their bolt is soon shot, and on the 

 open plain they can readily be galloped down with a horse. 

 When they sit on their haunches their attitude is that neither 

 of a dog nor of a cat so much as of a big monkey. On the 

 whole, they are much more easily domesticated than most 

 other cats, but, as with all highly developed wild creatures, 

 they show great individual variability of character and dis- 

 position. They have a very curious note, a bird-like chirp, 

 in uttering which they twist the upper lip as if whistling. 

 When I first heard it I was sure that it was uttered by some 

 bird, and looked about quite a time before finding that it 

 was the call of a cheetah. 



Then there was a tame wart-hog, very friendly, indeed, 

 which usually wandered loose, and was as comical as pigs 



