LEOPARDS AND PANTHERS. Ill 



eyes, and sometimes they are carried out in carts, 

 and whenever antelopes or other deer are seen on 

 a plain, should any one of them be separated 

 from the rest, the cheetah's head is brought to 

 face it, the blinds removed, and the chain taken 

 off. 



He immediately crouches, and creeps along 

 with his belly almost touching the ground, until he 

 gets within a short distance of the deer, who, al- 

 though seeing him approach, appears fascinated, 

 and seldom attempts to run away. The cheetah 

 then makes a few surprising springs, and seizes 

 him by the neck. If many deer are near each 

 other, they often escape by flight ; their number, 

 I imagine, giving them confidence, and preventing 

 the full force of that fascination which to a single 

 deer produces a sort of panic, and appears to di- 

 vest him of the power, or even inclination, to run 

 away, or make any resistance. It is clear that 

 they must always catch them by stealth, or in the 

 manner I have described, for they are not so swift 

 even as common deer. Antelopes are the swiftest 

 of all deer. 



The keeper carries with him some carrion, com- 

 monly bullocks liver, which he gives the cheetahs 



