USE OF THE CHETAH IN HUNTING. 67 



Of these curious habits the restless and all-adapting mind of man has 

 taken advantage, and has diverted to his own service the -wild destructive 

 properties of theChetah. In fact, man has established a kind of quad- 

 rupedal falconry, the Chetah taking the place of the hawk, and the 

 chase being one of earth and not of air. The Asiatics have brought 

 this curious chase to great perfection, and are able to train Chetahs for 

 this purpose in a wonderfully perfect manner. 



When a Chetah is taken out for the purpose of hunting game, he is 

 hooded and placed in a light native car, in company with his keepers. 

 When they perceive a herd of deer or other desirable game, the keep- 

 ers turn the Chetah's head in the proper direction, and remove the 

 hood from his eyes. The sharp-sighted animal generally perceives 

 the prey at once ; but if he fails so to do, the keepers assist him by 

 quiet gestures. 



No sooner does the Chetah fairly perceive the deer than his bands 

 are loosened, and he gently slips from the car. Employing all his in- 

 nate artifices, he approaches the game, and with one powerful leap 

 flings himself upon the animal which he has selected. The keepers 

 now hurry up, and take his attention from the slaughtered animal by 

 offering him a ladleful of its blood, or by placing before him some food 

 of which he is especially fond, such as the head and neck of a fowl. 

 The hood is then slipped over his head, and the blinded animal is con- 

 ducted, patient and unresisting, to the car, where he is secured until 

 another victim may be discovered. 



The natural disposition of this pretty creature seems to be gentle 

 and placid, and it is peculiarly susceptible of domestication. It has 

 been so completely trained as to be permitted to wander where it 

 chooses like a domestic dog or cat, and is quite as familiar as that an- 

 imal. Even in a state of semi-domestication it is sufficiently gentle. 

 One sleek and well-conditioned specimen with which I made acquaint- 

 ance behaved in a very friendly manner, permitting me to pat its soft 

 sides or stroke its face, and uttering short self-sufficient sounds, like the 

 magnified purr of a gratified cat. Unfortunately, the acquaintance 

 was rudely broken up by an ill-conditioned Frenchman, who came to 

 the front of the cage, and with his stick dealt the poor animal a severe 

 thrust in the side. The Chetah instantly lost its confident expression, 

 and was so irritated by this rough treatment that it would not permit 

 a repetition of the former caresses. 



Some time ago, while engaged in examining the larger Felidse, I 

 wished to investigate the structure of the Chetah's foot, some persons 

 having said that its claws were retractile like those of the cat, while 

 others stated that they were constructed like those of the dog. So I 

 went into the Chetahs' cage at the Zoological Gardens, and rather to 

 the surprise of the animals. Thinking that the Cat tribe were toler- 



