146 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 inter- 

 esting 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 ordinarily 

 anything like as ferocious, and prey on the smaller antelope, 

 occasionally taking something as big as a half-grown kon- 

 goni. For a short run, up to say a quarter of a mile or 

 even perhaps half a mile, they are the swiftest animals 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 disposi- 

 tion. They have a very curious note, a birdlike 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 

 generally are, with its sudden starts and grunts. Finally, 

 there was a young tommy buck and a Grant's gazelle doe, 

 both of which were on good terms with every one and 

 needed astonishingly little looking after to prevent their 

 straying. When I was returning to the house on the morn- 

 ing I killed the rhinoceros, I met the string of porters and 



