690 



NA TURA L HIS TOR Y. 



About the same size is the cheetah, or hunting-leopard of India, the 

 only one of the large leopards that is of service to man. It is tamed with- 

 out much difficulty, and is used in the hunt, being taken to the field with 

 a hood upon its head. An extract from the pages of Gordon dimming 

 will show the way in which it is used. The party had discovered a 

 herd of deer. " A cheetah was now unhooded, and on seeing the deer, he 

 at once glided from the cart, and taking advantage of every tuft of grass 

 and inequality in the ground, he crept towards his prey. The deer were 



^A jp 



Fig. 529. — Leopard {Fcl is par this). 



meanwhile lazily watching us as we went on without halting, and the poor 

 beasts were only aware of their danger when the leopard made his rush. 

 There was a wild scurry, but the cheetah was among them, and as the herd 

 cleared off, we saw him lying with his teeth in the throat of a goodly 

 buck. His keeper now came up with a wooden ladle and a knife, and cut- 

 ting the deer's throat, he caught the blood in a spoon, into which in a few 

 minutes the cheetah thrust his nose; and while he was lapping the blood, 

 the hood was slipped over his eyes, and he was secured and replaced in the 

 cart." 



