736 



AT. 



the condition of a desert, from which the art of man 

 cannot again fully reclaim it. We have abundant 

 evidence of this in those countries which were the 

 first habitats of civilised man, which have now 

 become too unproductive even for the panther. There 

 is a beautiful and valuable moral in this, but we must 

 leave both the inference and the application of that 

 to the reader. 



THE HUNTING LEOPARD (Felis jubata). This 

 animal, which, though the point is one of no very 

 great importance, we must consider as most probably 

 the leopard of the ancients, is much lighter in its 

 make, more swift in running, and much more docile 

 iit its manners, than any of the species already 

 noticed. It is found principally in Africa, though it 

 also occurs in the south-western parts of Asia, and 

 there may be remnants of it in the intermediate 

 regions of that part of the world until we come to the 

 chetah, which appears to supply its place in India, 

 and which, according to the accounts, is still more 

 lightly made and more docile. 



This species is about three feet long from the 

 muzzle to the insertion of the tail ; the head is about 

 half a foot long, the tail about two feet, and the height 

 is also about two feet. The head is shorter, and also 

 more slender in proportion to the size of the animal, 

 than in almost any other of the genus. The legs and 

 tail are also longer in proportion, and the whole body 

 is lighter, and formed for more prolonged exertion. 

 Even the paws differ in some respects from the more 

 typical cats ; the toes are longer, and they come to , 

 the ground with more firmness, as the last phalanx is 

 more produced, and also better supported by the 

 claws. The claws are crooked and sharp pointed, as 

 in the others, and the points of them do not come 

 exactly to the ground when the animal walks, but 

 they are only demi-retractile, and therefore they are 

 not so efficient tearing claws as those of many of the 

 genus. The feet of this animal are, in fact, in some 

 respects intermediate between those of the typical 

 cats and the dogs ; and it is worthy of remark, that 

 there is some sort of intermediate character, both 

 in the action of the animal and in its disposition. It 

 does not lie in wait, and crouch, and spring so exclu- 

 sively as the others, neither does it use its paws to 

 such an extent in the capture of its prey. It cannot 

 follow on a long chase in the same manner as the 

 swifter of the dogs ; and, therefore, it is said that the 

 hunters, when they do employ it, carry it on a pad 

 attached to the saddle, till they are within sight of 

 the game ; and that when the game is shown to it, it 

 reaches it by repeated bounds, and uses the teeth more 

 than the paws in the capture. The chetah has those 

 habits so nearly alike that it will not be necessary to 

 again allude to them in the notice of that animal. The 

 ground colour of the hunting leopard is usually a bright 

 clear yellow on the upper part ; and white on the under 

 part and the chin. The yellow is marked with small 

 round black spots at nearly equal distances ; and the 

 white part with larger spots further apart from each 

 other. The last half of the tail is marked with about 

 a dozen rings, alternately of black and white, the 

 last one, or tip of the tail, being white. It is 

 said that this spe'cies is easily tamed, very docile in 

 the domestic state, and not disposed to quarrel with 

 the dogs or other domestic animals which are its usual 

 associates. It is called the maned hunting leopard, 

 because the hair on the upper part of the neck 

 is much longer than that on any other part of the 



body excepting the cheeks; on which, as well as on 

 the neck, it stands out, and has a woolly or somewhat 

 frizzled appearance. 



THE CHETAH ( Felis venatica). This is the Indian 

 variety of the former species ; or, if a species, it differs 

 very little from the one just described. It is a very 

 handsome and graceful animal, as mild in its expression 

 as the common domestic cat, and very agile and active 

 in its motions. It is generally, though not always, 

 paler in the colour than the former ; and though there 

 is an indication of longer hair on the cheeks and upper 

 part of the neck than the rest of the body, it is only an 



Felis venatica. 



indication. The above figure will give a general 

 notion of the appearance of this animal. 



THE JAGUAR (Felis onca). This is the largest, 

 most powerful, and most ferocious of the feline tribe 

 which are natives of the American continent. It is 

 often called the American tiger; and in manners it 

 bears no inconsiderable resemblance to that formida- 

 ble animal, and even its size and strength are not 

 much less. In some of the accounts, however, it has 

 been confounded with the larger spotted cats of the 

 eastern continent, from which it is readily distinguished, 

 both by the peculiarities of its markings, and by 

 its form and manners, which are more to be depended 

 on, though the markings are fully as striking. The 

 greater number of the spots, at least upon the flanks 

 and sides of the jaguar, are regular ocelli, or eye 

 spots ; that is, they consist of an external circle of 

 black, with a spot of the same in the middle, and the 

 intermediate space of the same colour as the rest of 

 the ground on which the spots are placed. The spots 

 upon the cats of the east have sometimes a paler por- 

 tion within the black, but we believe no specimen has 

 occurred in them with a black spot in the centre ; and, 

 though jaguars are subject to considerable variety 

 in colour, and also in the form and intensity of 

 the spots, we believe no specimen of them has been 

 found entirely destitute of spots consisting of a black 

 circumference and a black centre. The spots, more 

 especially those on the haunches and shoulders, some- 

 times have the external circle broken, so that they ap- 

 pear, five or six in number, ranged at equal distances 

 round a central one. Those on the ridi>e of the back 



